Macybaby....your blocks are fantastic! Geesh....you are so talented. And, your other project is amazing... I'm still plugging along...I wasn't able to work on mine all day but I did do 3 today..

D2 - Milky Way
H1 - Log Cabin
N3 - Clay's Choice..

Teen and Macybaby,
All I can say is Wow. Your blocks are awesome and what amazes me is how quickly you are putting them together. Beautiful!

I can't believe you are getting them together so fast either! They look great ladies!

Wow ladies!!!!!!!!!!!!! So many gorgeous blocks!!!

Welcome DonnaPea! So glad you joined us! You had a great start :)

Macebaby, your blocks make me want to make another one! I love the bright colourful blocks you're making.I never thought of doing it this scrapy! I am so tempted right now........:D :D

Teen, I didn't see yours, sorry! More eye candy, beautiful!!! You will have them finished very soon at this pace!

One of the things I don't like - the instructions never give you a "trim size" for the intermediate pieces. it will say to take a 3.5" square and cut it diagonal twice, and then to make HST with them, but does not tell you want the UF size of those HST should be.

I have a chart that shows what the UF size is based on number of rows in a 6" block.
2 rows, UF 3 1/2"
3 rows, UF 2 1/2'
4 rows, UF 2"
5 rows, UF 1 3/4"
6 rows UF 1 1/2"
7 rows UF 1 3/8"
8 rows UF 1 1/4"

Most of them with templates, I measured with the UF size would be so I could do the same thing.

Macybaby - that is going to be one colorful, happy quilt when done. You & Teen are very inspiring. I will be slow going, have a goal to get 2 per week completed.

I agree with disliking the fact that the UF is not provided. I had to do a cheat sheet similar to this and after awhile, the sizes stick with you because you do them so often. Templates make it easy to figure out but some don't have templates so this is helpful.....Thanks for sharing this chart.

Only 2 today....

D9 - Orange Peel
G2 - Oklahoma Dogwood

those are nice. I did not cut out for the Oklahoma Dogwood, but I really like it so may at a later time.

Wow, beautiful Teen!

Thanks guys!! I had to do some sorting today as I continue to prepare for move so I didn't sit down to start sewing until about 1pm today. After dinner, I did do one more block but will post that tomorrow. Total count as as of tonight: 40.... Woohoo!!! 100 more to go! Geesh...

I did another group last night- they are so fun and with the cutting already done, go super fast. I like to set out 10- 15 at a time and then do them assembly line. IE - I do as much as I can on a block before I need to press, then move to the next. When the first round of sewing is done, I get up and do all the pressing and trimming(if needed) then start another round. it's always fun to see how many "rounds" it takes to get all the blocks done.

I've been thinking about ways to assemble, and that is getting me excited to get more blocks done. I'm thinking of going with 36 in the middle on point, then the rest around the outside. Will need to do some triangle blocks to make it work, but that won't be hard. I'll put all the "other background" blocks in the center. I counted up and have 35 with alternate backgrounds, so only need to swap out one more and I'm good to go.

I have a total of 49 sewn up now. I would have 50, but I trimmed the HST triangles wrong on one and when all sewn, it's too small. Hmmm- since I have to recut that one, I might as well do it for additional one I need for the center.

Oh ladies, I am loving your blocks. I have always wanted to make this quilt. But, I'm afraid, that I don't have the time. And, that I have a very difficult time making my blocks come out to the right size every time. And, I hate PP.

Teen, I love the unifying print you are using and the overall color scheme. It is beautiful.

Macybaby, You have a beautiful collection of batik scraps. Your unifying color is really setting off these batik scraps. Your blocks are just beautiful as well. I don't think I could cut out every block at one time. I think I would need to see small finishes here and there. Plus, I would probably get lost somewhere along the way. But, there is something to be said for just sitting down and having the block ready to sew when you have a block of time here and there. And your other project, "Catch Me if you Can" is Wow, just Wow. It is definitely going to be a show piece when you are done.

Keep up the great work ladies. In the meantime, I will put this project on the long list for now.

I can't wait to see your finished quilts.

Judith, when you cut a bit larger and then trim down, it's not that hard to do. I learned this doing the 365 block challenge, and the good thing about that one is they do provide all the "trim to" measurements. It makes something that looks difficult be a lot simpler, and no paper piecing.

I personally think the directions for this sampler make it harder than it needs to be. And to get around that, they resort to paper piecing too often - I think I found three blocks that "require" paper piecing. For the most part, I am ignoring the directions. I look at the picture and use the templates to get measurements, and use what I learned in the other challenge to do the sewing and trimming.

Lots of good info on here - thanks for the tips. Here are 2 more I finished. Probably it for the week, as I work full-time and will be out of town this weekend (which is my prime sewing time). I sure enjoy seeing your blocks!
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Great job, Donna!!

Macybaby...with today's blocks, I'm up to 45 blocks completed. I ran out of WOW and had to trip on down to the LQS. Lol! I am going thru my yellow stash like crazy so I picked up some of yellow print too. So, I think I'm good to go for awhile. Your ideas sound great for your finishing quilt. I plan on going the distance with all 140. And, you are right, I haven't really used too much of the directions and construct by the picture. Bachelors Puzzle was way to convoluted so I just did it in HST and it came out great. Whatever works is my motto... Post pics when you can...

Thank you, Judith, for the lovely comment. I hope you do join in and do this quilt.

6 blocks today

Great blocks ladies! My first experience with PP was a class with Deb Kerasik. She has a great way of doing the PP using the "Add-a-quarter" ruler. I wouldn't do it any other way, and have several Judy Neimeier patterns I will soon be tackling. Keep up the good work!

laurafet...I've seen this technique too but never have tried it since I don't have the ruler but I suppose any ruler would work. PP is new to me so I imagine I'll venture out more because I enjoy it.

Wow ladies!! Beautiful blocks! I love them all :)

I have to say, I love PP. When I made the first pp blocks I had no idea what I was doing and how so I didn't like it at all. Once I got the hang of it.......without pp I never would have started Nearly Insane :D :D

Love your blocks, Teen. I agree - Bachelors Puzzle was a doozy and I struggled with it. Yours looks great.

Donna - love the orange/yellow block!

Teen - yours are turning out very nice. And it's always nice to have an excuse to stop at the LQS, though sometimes I need blinders when I go in so I don't get distracted and walk out with way more than I was looking for.

My first PP was doing the 50 Stars challenge on this board, using Carol Doak's book. I made it through all 50, but have not done anything with them. So they are one of my longer term UFO's. I never could get good at sewing sections together until I started removing the paper first.

I bought the 6" and 12" add a quarter rulers, and bought a 6" add an eighth ruler. I'm not using them at all with the CMIYC quilt.

I did use them when I did the Fire Island Hosta quilt by Judy N, however I did not sew on the papers with that one, just used them as a template.

I have another PP project that is also a UFO - I started making roses. They finish around 6".

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

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

And I liked doing them as a group too. This was before I upgraded my machine to one with a thread cutter. It was very tedious cutting all the threads.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psx03rsrlk.jpg

Thank you, Macy & Donna... I'm really liking the look of this sampler with my fabric choices.

Those roses are really pretty and will make a lovely quilt. Lots of pieces. I don't leave the paper on when sewing sections together. It is easier without it, at least for me. Some patterns, I don't sew on the paper at all...but just fold back. It depends on pattern. I know I'll be doing more PP beyond SBS. I enjoy it.

Ladies your projects are looking fantastic! You sure are accomplishing a lot in a very short time.

Thank you, thimble. We are women on a mission. Lol!

Only 2 today and I really like these.... Specially E3...cool block to make.

K6 - Gentlemen's Fancy
E3 - Chicago Pavements

Lovely roses Macebaby!! I never thought of chain piecing while doing pp :D

Teen, more beautiful blocks. It's time for a group photo! Can't wait to see them together. Please......:D

For those asking about the "add a quarter" ruler, it has a lip on it, so when you fold the paper back it snugs into where the seam is and there is no lining up like with a regular ruler. This makes the process go very fast, and if you have pieces cut so you can line up with the 1/4" then it makes it very easy.

I rarely cut pieces now so they line up with the 1/4" I found that to be too wasteful for my liking once I got proficient with the process. when I did the Fire Island Hosta quilt, the waste you'll end up with following the directions is huge. I was pulling fabric from my stash and used about half of what the pattern called for with the piecing.

Teen, on your K6, the blues in the corners go together so well that I initially thought you had overlaid one fabric on top of the other. Lookin' good! I don't have one of the add a quarter rulers, but think I will pick one up. Now that I am getting into this, I can really see how it would avoid a lot of waste. Saw one demonstrated on a You Tube video and looks like it is a good tool to invest in.

With pp I always measure the pieces I need so I won't have a lot of waste. That really helps too. I don't have an 'add a quarter' ruler.

I thought about purchasing the ruler, as well, but I'm a "measurer" so I haven't had too much waste. I have a process now since I'm only using 5 colors. I piece a few blocks and with the scraps, I then pick a PP I can do with those scraps. It's working right now but pretty soon I'll run out of PP blocks. I have bolts of fabric I'm using so, really, I have plenty of focal & Dk Blue fabrics so if I waste, I waste. Oh well.

Donna...my main focus fabric has so many swirls of shades of blue and teal. Super easy to find matching blues. It's been really fun to create blocks with this colorway. K6 is pretty simple PP but assembling can be a bit tricky?

thank you for the nice comments...

that said....here are 4 blocks completed today. My count is 51. I'll take a group I picture when I hit the halfway point at 70..

C9 - Grandmothers Pride
F8 - Jacobs Ladder
B9 - Irish Chain
N6 - Kaleidoscope

Some more beautiful blocks ladies. Your making great progress.

Nice group there Teen!

I am having so much fun making these, I love doing sampler quilts. I've had to force myself to work in the CMIYC inbetween working on these. That one really gets tedious with all the long runs of FG or triangles. At least it has lots of bright colors!

I managed to squeeze in 2 more blocks this week. Teen, I get excited when I see yours and see what I have to look forward to! I enjoyed Big T - that was a block I had never seen before, and I like the look of it.
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Great blocks DonnaPea!!

Like you I love sampler quilts Macebaby. I get so bored doing the same thing over and over again....

Donna...these turned out really nice. I like the colors of your blocks. It will be really scrappy. I liked Big T, too. Yours turned out great. There are lots of fun blocks in this project and many I have never seen before so it is really fun to try different blocks. Some of the blocks I'm considering using for whole quilts later (much later...lol!) With these small blocks, there are so many little pieces to contend with and so many seams that need to be matched up. It wasn't until my 4th block that I realized the pattern gave pressing directions to help with seam matching. Lol! And, because these are small blocks, I pin my seams, which I typically don't do when making quilts. It really helps keep the seams in alignment on this project. I'll be working on more today. I'm anxious to get to the halfway point. Yea!!

Ladies...This is my first sampler ever! I sure picked a doozy. Lol.... I have another sampler I'd like to do but it is not to this scale and includes appliqué motifs. I decided to do this big project because I cannot find all the fabric I want to start my Baltimore Album quilt. The BA was suppose to be my big 2018 project but I'm struggling with finding the right reproduction fabric for it. I have purchased 1 of 5 fabrics needed and keep shopping. When I have all the fabrics, I'll start it. In the meantime, it's Sylvia and me!

Well if you're going to make the rest of the Sylvia blocks at this pace you will need another sampler before you start the Baltimore. That one is very labour intensive!!

I know!! There are 25 blocks in the BA I'm doing. I'll be targeting a block a month. My avatar is one of the blocks I made to audition the pattern. I made a 20" pillow for my MIL in her colors. The pattern is called "MEC Remembered" and I chose this pattern because I'm a civil war buff and have made many but, also, the story behind the original quilt is inspiring. The pattern isn't as densely floral as other BA's but still a lot of work. I'm machine appliquing with turned edge so not as long duration as if I was hand appliquing, which I dislike immensely. I will be doing trapunto, as well. Anywhooo...I'm off to sewing nook!

I need to find out how that works: machine appliqué with turned edge. I don't hate hand appliqué but it's so time consuming, I'm getting fed up with it before the first block is finished ;) I once had the BA book but sold it again. It wasn't going to happen. Never thought of machine appliqué though!

My venture into needle turn applique was the Affairs of the Heart quilt. I have 12 blocks done except for the emboridery part, and that is all I'm going to do. I don't mind it, it just takes me too long.

I should pull out my Pheonix Rising wall hanging, I did that one turned edge machine applique. I did a narrow straight stitch along the edge. I have it all done except the feet and beak - becuase I couldn't decide how to do them. they are too small to do like the rest.

Here is my installment for today.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pst9ooksrr.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psny4hgmju.jpg

Wow Macebaby, don't tell me you did all those blocks in one day! What colour will your sashing be? It will be one colourful Bride once you're finished. I don't think I've ever seen one like yours before.