Two Final Blocks = 1 Quilt Top

I cannot begin to write about how much I have learned from doing Sew Happy Geek's QAL this past month. When I found Jenna's blog over a month ago I really had no clue what I was doing.  To get you caught up you can find the first blocks here, here, and finally here.

This block was called the Quatra Star. Jenna has a video up on her site on how to do this block. It could have been done 2 ways - paper or foundation pieced. After watching the video I decided I'd rather screw up on a piece of paper than a piece of fabric, no matter how scrappy it is. Call me scared but what little fabric I have I need to make the most of it. I've done a few paper pieced blocks from participating in the Solstice Star blocks by Fresh Lemons Quilts so I felt more comfortable in this technique. Good thing is because my handy, dandy seam ripper came through again for me. When you paper piece you really have to make sure that you have enough fabric to cover the area that it is intended. I really love paper piecing. The sky is the limit on what you can accomplish with a piece of paper, lines and fabric.

The last block was the Dresden block. I was hoping to use my acrylic template but this blades were taller than mine so I used Jenna's paper template.  The fabrics above were the last of my stash of all these colors from this QAL. I started with remnants and thank goodness I made it to the end.

To be entered into the giveaway you had to have your blocks sewn into a quilt top by the 18th. I knew if I was going to spend this much time on these 12 blocks I was going to finish. Since I had run out of fabric I needed to purchase more white. With the blocks done and ready to be put together I found I had made a mistake all along on these blocks. Being the newbie as I was when I first started I didn't quite understand that when you say 12" finished this really means 12.5" before sewn into the top. Duh!! I had stopped trimming my squares after the first 6 and when I noticed they were different sizes and the points weren't sharp it dawned on me. Never make that mistake again!

I'm so glad I took this leap and conquered my fears of cutting pieces of fabric to make different patterns. I have some blocks that are my favorite and there is one that I wish I had changed the colors but never did. The touch of blue was a last minute addition. I had thought about red but one of the pieces of fabric in the blocks has this blue in it. In the end it gives it a little splash of something different.

I'm off to get caught up on my NY Beauty QAL since block number two comes out today.

Have a Great Day!