Nancy - your paper piecing is perfect!! ...what time did you go to sleep this morning?? a 3:47am post - blocks are awesome!
yours too - Spartan - I really like the looks of the stripe. I'm hoping to start QAYG sometime soon. It would being 'done' come a lot sooner
You will not 'slip behind because you will always be ahead!! looking at your A9, I would add a strip of light to the top so you don't lose the points - pinch them in just a little bit [the left corner point at the seamline and the top middle point] it looks like you have enough seam at the bottom so you can adjust it by taking more from the bottom when you put it all together. I shift things around a bit myself too.
There's a real pretty sheen on the stitches - what kind of thread are you using??