I just sewed strips together, ironed and cut to a 12" square then basted to my batting and backing for the hand quilting. I was so proud because I knew these blocks would be exactly 12" square.
Each little block was so pretty, but when I sewed 4 of them tog to make the giant square, it really got on my nerves. That's when I had the thought to make black/white strips/sashing to go around the big blocks. It's strange, but for some reason it does seem to stabilize everything and makes it less annoying. My son said he would see if he could do a picture (when It is done) and if quilt turns out to be not too awful, I'll post it. Thanks for your input. I obviously need all the help I can get.