We’re in month eight of the Cotton Cuts mystery quilt. Month 9 is the last month for fabric and Month 10 is the reveal.

I’ve begun work on the Deco baby quilt. This might be the most technically challenging quilt I’ve work on. As a reminder, here’s my inspiration quilt

I’ve found that making test blocks with scrap fabric is a wise way to start most quilts. Deco has three primary blocks each of which should measure 8 1/2” square. The first test block was only 7 7/8”; the second test block measured 8 3/8” — just 1/8” short.

I figured that was “close enough for gov’ment work” as my dad used to say (somewhat sarcastically) so here are those two blocks in my chosen fabric. These blocks went together pretty quickly, without a lot of trouble.

The third block is giving me fits. This is my first encounter with strip sets and I couldn’t figure out how to do the strip sets in my scrap fabric so I started using my chosen fabric. The first test block was hopelessly too small; the second is better and I hope the third will be better yet. Because there are so many small pieces the block warps easily so I have to be extra gentle when I press (don’t iron, press) and apply starch