I love to 'hear' the enthusiasm in your writing!
Tiny word of warning (sorry!): SITD is not as easy as it sounds g.
If you want to quilt along the sashing, it would be easier to do the
stitching a quarter of an inch from the seams - still straight lines,
but any little 'burp' from the straight wouldn't show nearly as much!

Caution about leaving those blocks unquilted, with just the sashing sewn
down. When I suggested the false back, it was because you would have
quilted the individual blocks. It would depend a bit on your batting,
but I don't think 6.5" blocks would do too well unquilted.
Or, as is more than likely, I have misunderstood your intentions!
..
In message om, Trish
Brown writes
Pat S wrote:
How enterprising of you to change the block size. Most of the designs
fit neatly into the size; so will be easy enough to do 'proportionally'.
You might have to work a bit on a few!

I thought that would be the case, but you just try to resize that
blasted ¼" seam allowance on a triangle or trapezoid! I've had to
revisit my (old and rusty) drafting skills - which is A Good Thing,
really. I'm enjoying it hugely!

As to the quilt as you go. I think that is actually a great idea. There
are various methods 'out there'. But, I was thinking ... I would think
that with such relatively small blocks, this quilt might be a candidate
for a false back. You could use a fine muslin for the block backing, so
that you could quilt them. Then, after they have all been sewn together
with the sashing, you could choose the backing you really want (don't
forget there are extra width fabrics, because you will already have a
lot of seam thickness), and tie it to the top at, perhaps, every corner.
The ties could be a feature, if you like that idea, or virtually invisible.
See what you think.

Ooo! I love the sound of the false back! I'm thinking that, if I sash
the quilt, I could simply SITD along the sashing strips after the back
is attached. Straight lines are a lot easier to machine quilt than all
those wiggly ones I see on YouTube!

If I were a great one for block quilts (which I'm
not, usually - I tend to do more whole area designs), I would have tried
this method by now. Maybe it is in my future! I have tried a couple of
the usual methods, but only for testing purposes.

I'm so glad Pati came in with her tips. You really are going to have
fun, you know!

YES!!! I've made a few practice blox, just to see if I can do it and
it's so much easier than I thought it'd be. I'm thinking some of the
foundation piecing is going to be a challenge, but I'll be sensible and
start easy. Thanks so much for your input - I feel so rich with all
these great ideas coming my way. ;-D


--
Best Regards
Pat on the Green