thanks msdesigns- for clearing up my measuring confusion- i knew how the template pieces were measured & how they fit together but for some reason i thought i had read in the beginning that the blocks would be 3 1/2"- so when i made the the first one & it measured 5 1/4" i was (stumped) ... looked at it & looked at it---but figured---i like this size so---continue on- i'm glad it was just me--- & i am in fact doing them right- i am really enjoying these & hope you don't mind that i shared my blocks here too....also- welcome- i'm glad you showed up to see what all the talk was about