PJisChaos

Ok, here's my problem now. LoL! (Oh how I am really hating this project so much!!)

So, got the book "Strip Happy ~ Quilting On A Roll" by Donna Kingsley circa 2008... am doing the "Zig Zag' Quilt" that is in this oh-so-lovely book(major sarcasm, sorry but so frustrated!!). Basically, you take anywhere from 9 to 45 strips of 5 colors or 4 Jelly Rolls. Sew them end to end until you can get 4 strips that are anywhere from 93.5" to 467" in length. Then sew these into a 4-strip set of each color. (Yes, this pattern and entire book assumes you are not a beginning quilter and can just automatically know all the things that are NOT included in the skim instructions.)

So, are ya still with me? Then you make a 11 7/8" square template and cut it in half from corner to corner to get the triangle you need. Take the triangle to your strip sets and cut the required amount, 7 to 42 depending on the color set. Then sew these together to get an 11 1/2" square. I got all that and so far looks ... well, wonky to be honest but I can see the effect I'm s'posed to end up with so maybe it be ok..?

Now the problem is this... it says to press, trim to 11 1/2" and press again. Did that too, HOWEVER, it gives no pic or advice on how to square these up. So how do I square each block so the seams will stagger enough to line up when the blocks are opened? I have done 4 of them so far, sewed them in 4-patch style and NOT ONE of the dad-gum seams line up!!! In order to line up the diagonal strips from each triangle that is now a square, I have to offset them 1/4" like usual with triangles. BUT, that throws off the alignment of the rows by 1/4" in each block!!! So my rows steadily go downhill if I continue this. The layout is 6x7 which makes my drop in each column(up & down) off by a total 1 3/4". Not to mention each row(from left to right) has a total drop of 1 1/2". UGH!!!!

How the heck do I do this??? It says "Sew rows together, carefully matching seams. Then Press." Ummm, no can do as the seams do not match when the blocks are opened. I have been working on this for 4 days now and so far it is proving to be the most boring and frustrating thing I have ever done!! Have you ever sat and sewn 3 seams that measure 467"? There has to be an easier way to do this but, I think I am just to dumb to get it right now. Thanks for any help ya can give and even more thanks for letting me vent, again. LoL!

***Working on pics in case ya just aren't getting what I am on about, see if that will help explain it.