If you scroll to the bottom picture, it’s easy to see that this block really stands out amongst the 22 blocks made so far for the Splendid Sampler.

This is a paper pieced block from Amy Smart – technically, it’s 4 blocks individually pieced and then sewn together. I had recently bought a new pack of charm squares to fit in where I could, and with these tiny pieces I thought I could make it work.  If you’re thinking the same thing I’ll spoil the last chapter of the book for you and tell you – it’s a smidgen too small.  I substituted similar colored fabrics for 2 pieces on 2 of the blocks and that’s why.

That’s the beauty of the darker colors though; I don’t think it’s obvious at all unless I point it out. I was thinking I would line up the fabric to all point the same way and as you can see…oops.  Looks like I got a couple of ’em wrong!  That’s going to happen sometimes when picking out directional fabric.  You win some, you lose some.

I was busy sewing and ironing each seam and thought to myself – I love, love, love this Add A Quarter ruler.  We must’ve had some sort of mental telepathy going on, because it wasn’t 5 minutes later when here came a text message from a friend saying she was enjoying using the ruler on this block also!

This block is a real show stopper so far on this quilt!  I’m not planning to piece these in order when the time comes; I’m going to alternate them based on what’s pleasing to the eye in terms of color and pattern disbursement.