Looks like a great start Cathy!

Today's progress

Started out with 18 white strips, 24 green strips, 9 dark green print strips and 72 green triangles and 72 white triangles. That adds up to 199 peices to start.

Sewed the triangles and strips together, for 72 HST and 5 panels.



http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps27ad8dde.jpg


Then the fun - cut the 5 panels into 342 pieces (not counting scraps).

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps06e16bb0.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps3e41f506.jpg

The cutoff triangles from one end got sewn together with those from the other end to make the rest of blocks.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps5302cf69.jpg

After a few hours of trimming - I've got 324 - 2.5" blocks ready to assemble into 9 - 12.5" blocks.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps89c302de.jpg

And for some reason - I developed a really strong craving for Mint ice cream while working on this!

Great organization! Your prep is really well done. When you go to put the squares together that is where you will see how well you centered the center strip. If they are off and some will be you can use a tack(a stitch) so the center strips meet correctly before you sew them together.

Got them all in strips ready to sew together.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps1bbaadc0.jpg

I did have problems with the blocks I pieced together from top and bottom "scraps" Unfortunately those were about half the three fabric ones, which is most of what needs to be matched up! The problem was the "scrap" was already cut to width, so I didn't have wiggle room to deal with. Maybe some day my skills will be better, but for now I need wiggle room and then cut to size after I sew.

BTW- I trim both sides of the block cut from the diagonal. So if it looks like the left side of the block in the previous post is way off - it is!

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps4225864f.jpg

I think if I did one like this in the future, I'd cut my diagonals a bit wider (like 2 5/8 instead of 2 1/2). I was really scrimping to have enough of the dark print (I even pieced some pieces to get enough ) and that didn't help things.

I am using these as "Learning Experiences" so though I'm trying to be accurate, I'm not super concerned about it - it's more to learn what does and does not work for me. My goal for this year is to try some new things and gain new skills.

I had just completed a set of blocks for a swap that uses the same basic block (Kansas Dugout). I made 11 of them, but since they are all going to different people, I did not worry about any secondary pattern. I may do a set of these for myself, and then I'd have to pay more attention to the colors in the corners. That would be a lot more challenging!

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps0a298347.jpg

This is the hostess block - it's Rhonda's October 2014 design. Though I made one change, more because I made a mistake and decided it was fine so I left it that way.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps00391ae3.jpg

All sewn together. I think I'll put a plain border on this one. I'm almost positive that I bought the green I used on the HST locally a few weeks ago(for a different project) so I'm hopefully I can buy more and use that.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps0fab217f.jpg

I think my biggest learning here - is not to use anything cotton/poly with involved patterns. The solid green is a blend, and that did cause more difficulty. Most of my stash use to belong to someone else (bought three loads from an estate sale) and while most is 100% cotton, occasionally I pull something out that is not.

Macybaby You did a great job on you quilt. I like it.

Rhonda, I'm having a lot of fun with your designs.

I was reading on another thread where you said you like the designing part better than the sewing!

I've found I don't care for the design part - I have no interest in playing around and coming up with neat looking designs. My favorite part is to find a block I like the look of, and then figuring out HOW to make it. And a big part of the fun is seeing if what I think will work- actually does.

I'm more of the "engineer" and am very happy to leave the design to someone else!


I've found blocks I really liked and figured out how to make them - only to find out afterwards they were designed for paper piecing LOL!!