First Finish!!

I joined the Finish Along 2014 at The Littlest Thistle blog. I have my first finish completed!!
The Celtic Solstice is a Mystery from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville. We got our first instructions on November 29 and subsequent instructions every week after that. The instructions for it are still available on her blog.
This is the quilt in progress. It was a very worthwhile project for me in many ways.
It seems that no matter how hard I try to make sure I have cut accurately, sewn 1/4 inch seams, pressed correctly, and made the appropriate sacrifices to the Quilt Gods, my completed units still don't measure  precisely. I do consider myself math challenged, to say the least, but you would think that eventually I would get this right! I started this mystery with the goal of improving my accuracy and precision.

#1. I tried Inklingo which is a system that uses your printer to print your pieces on fabric. The learning curve was not bad and it did help with my cutting and seam problems. I even got to know my printer better and that will transfer to other projects. I will use it again. It was not problem free and I had some screw ups, but it was worthwhile.

#2. I always thought that I needed to make 1/4 inch seams or maybe a scant 1/4 inch, but I learned that I need to lean toward an 1/8 inch seam or it does not come out right. I never really figured out how much pressing takes out of the block.

#3. My quilting foot is not a reliable 1/4 inch. I was depending on it to make an exact 1/4 inch seam and I think I was going over the 1/4 inch.

#4. Rip out and redo if it is not right because it will not get better as you put more units together—it gets worse!

#5. I used the color green which is not a favorite of mine—ranks right down there with brown and beige. This didn't help with accuracy, but it was beyond my comfort zone.

Well, it is done!

                                                                                    Yay Me!!!!!