Slow and Steady Slogging to Provence

Those of you already sleeping under En Provence, I salute you!

Even though my oversized wall hanging only has 9 of the big purple/yellow/green/neutral blocks, it is very slow going in the quiltorium.

My challenges have included:

• Miscounting how many QSTs I needed.
• Thinking that I miscounted my HSTs, and making more only to realize I had some up on the design wall.
• Sewing for a while with no thread in the bobbin
• Orienting my purple four patches wrong during assembly
• The usual difficulty getting crisp points in blocks wiht HSTs, QSTs, and those dreaded Y-blocks. I am not loving the Y-blocks

I have had a few moments like this:

I couldn't resist putting one block together all the way.  Can you spot the mistake in the lower partial block in the following photo? I made that mistake twice. 

To cope with these challenges and minimize disasters, I am doing the following:

• Checking and trimming every 3.5" unit before sewing
• Keeping a printout of the design handy at all times
• Pressing thoughtfully so seams nest
• Pinning the match points where points must meet
• Proceeding for the most part in sets of nine to assemble the five strips that I need to make each big block. 
• Carefully laying all the pieces to be sewn in piles next to my machine so that everything is oriented properly.
• Walking away to do something else when I am too frustrated.

I think it will go a little faster, and easier, when I get these big blocks done. I am eager to move on to other projects soon.....

How's it going with your mystery quilt?