March HST Block

My January block was 13 1/2" square (sort of), February block was 12" square (again, sort of.)
March block came out exactly right. 12 1/2" square (mostly).

Emme feels it is necessary to be a part of any project I'm currently working on:

A little of this, a little of that

I've been putzing around my sewing machine. Finishing odds & ends. My sister-in-law's b'day is this week and I was told she was wanting to get a sewing machine so I made this for her:

Not the sewing machine, but the nifty little caddy that hold's stuff. I found the tutorial via Pinterest. God bless that site. I put the above photo & a little something to go towards the sewing machine in one of the pockets. I wasn't sure she'd know what it was without some sort of reference. It went together really quick and made me think I should make one for myself. All in good time. ;)

I did sew up my February block for InColorOrder's Half Square Quilt-a-long.

This one was a pit of a pain for me to get lined up as well. I'm thinking I may start pressing my seams open. It also turned out about an inch smaller all the way around than my January block. Reviewing the January instructions I realized that I didn't square each block to 3.5" before sewing each block together, which I did do for the February block. So, which block should I redo? Who knows. I'm leaving them for now. 

My curves class starts this week and I'm trying not to start any new projects so I can focus on the class. It'll be a whirlwind of curvy sewing.  Plus I've been working on the block for the Quilt Bee I signed up for and so far I don't have anything photo worthy.

January Half-Square quilt block

I've got my fabrics all chosen for the 2012 Half-Square Triangle Quilt-a-long, a few fat quarters from Moda's Butterscotch & Roses and a really dark gray polka dot that I'm going to use as the 'neutral'.

I'm going to use a great lime green houndstooth for the sashing & border and I hope it turns out okay. I really like the idea of the green breaking up the charcoal gray and I really like houndstooth. I hope I don't get too impatient waiting for the blocks each month. I'm sure I can keep myself busy with other projects. ;)

The block of the month for January is the Sawtooth Star. I decided to use the alternative method to put it together. Half-square triangles are definitely a work in progress for me. I was so excited to get started that I was zooming through and making a mess of it. I ripped out several seams and put it back together and ended up with this: 

Not perfect, but not too bad either. I'm looking forward to seeing how my skills get better from month to month. Hopefully I won't mind putting a January block in the same quilt as a December block. ;)