Six inch blocks are no joke! This is the first time I've tried a smaller size block. There's no room for error, not in cutting or sewing seams. Apparently, all my seams sway at the end:) And easing is a bad, bad idea. Bad Quilter! Bad! I even pinned the rows together and I don't normally bother.
I spent three hours today trying to figure out this one. I made cookies and took some breaks, too, but it was intense. It looks like one of the simpler ones in the book, too. Finally, I cut the rectangles half an inch larger than the pattern called for and trimmed the final triangle blocks to fit the four patches.
Not pretty. I'm going to redo it, this isn't going in my final quilt. But I'm going to do a few more blocks first and try to get a handle on this six inch size. And I'm going to research tips on working with smaller sized blocks. Hopefully they won't all take me three hours. Maybe I just need to watch a refresher course or something. I taught myself how to sew, maybe I'm doing it wrong?
I'm determined to make this quilt! I love my fabric, the patterns are pretty, I've wanted to for a long time, and I'm going to do this by next Christmas. It'll be a present to myself.
Anybody have advice on working with small blocks? Any suggestions at all? At this point, I'm willing to try skinning chickens and lighting candles.
You might try to sew blocks by hand. I noticed you started with first block being first alphabetically. If you take a look at the final finished (p.80), going by rows, the first row is a good starting point. Your block index is on p. 126. (Took me a while to see this.) Take a look at the album posts. You will feel more accomplished with positive results. I hope this helps.