I am still working on getting my 9 patches done. got all the fabric pressed and now working on getting them cut. Getting sick right after starting it a pain in the neck. I have printed the 2nd clue and will work on it as soon as I can. If I could get to the accuquilt cutter I would be cut in no time, but it is at moms with no place to set it up at the moment. they have some remodeling going on so every thing is piled up. UGH. Oh well i will cut as I can being sick.

Time to make some homemade chicken noodle soup to try to get rid of the crude i have. Not the flu thank god.

jaba and carrot, I think only those of us who are doing scrappy need to worry about laying it out to see where you aregoing. But once you get the 16-1/2" blocks done, you won't need the design wall. The only reason I am doing them in strips that are 6 blocks long, is that I am going to do this as a QAYG project, using only stitch in the ditch for simplicity. If I get all the vertical quilt lines done, I can roll it right, and get the other lines done. I will not do any quilting in the star points. Getting a king moved around under the Bernina 430 is almost impossible, especially if you are trying to do a quilting pattern. Would sell almost anything for one of the new machines with a long throat.

Paintmejudy.......There was a tutorial on here at one time that had you quilting a larger quilt in sections. You lay out your whole back-batting and top. only pin or baste the middle third of the quilt... cut the outside sections of the batting only off. Quilt the middle third...re-attach one side of the batting-- pin or baste that section and quilt. And then repeat with the last side. I have done this with a king size quilt and it makes the quilting so much easier. Just make sure you do not catch the part of your backing and top that is on either side !!!

Now why didn't I think of doing it that way!!?? Missed that tute. I usually add 2 foot sections as I go along so never have more than that amount of fabric moving under the machine, sewing in the backing and adding the strips, but I think keeping the backing and batting in one piece then moving out from the center seems a lot easier. Thanks, I'm going to do that with this quilt.

I was just about to mention this also. I did a king this way recently, and it worked well. I purchased the Craftsy class on Quilting Large Quilts on your DSM (Ann Peterson is the teacher), and followed her steps. I must say, tho, that I do have a machine with a bigger throat, so that also helped.

Now, on to my CatCave to figure out what my A and B will be!

It's looking good! I've cut all the necessary pieces for this week's clue, am now to the point of marking the backs of the 2-1/2" blocks. I assume we'll only need to use a portion of the 96 blocks we cut, because 4 x 17 is NOT 96. The rest will be used for setting blocks? That's what I see in the pics.

Had to cut an additional strip because I forgot an important rule of quilting: measure twice, cut once. I had cut one 1/4" too narrow.

Also, I changed my dominant fabric for this clue because it just didn't work well with the design.

After a visit to the dining car, I'll be ready to do the marking and piecing!

judy, i like the pattern also. nice way to use up scraps. i decided on black for my 'stars' at the intersections. using up my 'scrubs' material. truthfully, i have never seen any one in black scrubs, has anyone else?
and i will try and share pictures later. have to go back and read. did i understand right, you are going to coasta rico? did i spell that right? i have heard wonderful things about the luxury vacations there. sand, and sun, and green trees, cheaper food, etc. have a nice time. when are you leaving?

Yes, Costa Rica, hola! This isn't a luxury hotels kind of vacation, and one of them was called rustic -- and we were told we would need flashlights to get around the grounds at night. LOL But I've heard it is a beautiful country. It is an all-inclusive land cruise, everything except the tour guides tip included, going from place to place, overnighting at different hotels, in a country half the size of Kentucky. Should be more people-friendly than the cruise I did alone, there will be a maximum of 40 people traveling together, much easier to make acquaintences with a small group.

My Fabric for Clue 2
 

Yep, I took my mother to the doctor yesterday and the doctor's aide was wearing black scrubs.