Quilt Block Challenge Revisited

     Perhaps you think I gave up on my personal quilt challenge. Not so, although it didn't evolve as I had imagined. I made quite a few blocks from the patterns I found on websites. Some of them had crummy directions, in my opinion. For example, in spite of following the instructions this one ended up too small. I added sashing (border around the block) to make it 12" x 12" (finished). The more pieces a block contains, the more difficult it is to end up with the proper size.

(Photos by Panda)

     I invited Panda and Poodaloo to design blocks for me to cut and sew. It quickly became apparent that poor directions are considerably better than no directions at all. Copying a design made by a 6 or 8 year old and then cutting the pieces for a 12" quilt block is tricky.

 Panda's design (above) was way out there for me. She asked me to add green fabric triangles at each corner but I haven't done it yet.

     Poodaloo wanted a diamond in her design. Sashing added because it didn't finish the size I thought it would. Those darn diamond seam allowances will  throw you off every time.

      After free design proved less than easy, I sewed a bunch of half square and quarter square triangles. The girls put them together like a puzzle. It was nearly fool-proof in terms of getting what we expected.

 

 The small parts of this block are half square triangles.

  

The center of this block is a quarter square triangle.

     Next step is piecing together the blocks and adding sashings to make a quilt top. Not sure when that will happen because I am stumped about what color to make the sashing. Any suggestions? Dark blue to match the blue in the lightest color pieces?