Prepping for Retreat and The Dreaded Math

Thinking I would get caught up on gift quilts I need to make, I cut out all the pieces for an I-Spy quilt before I left for retreat in Shipshewana last month.  I was going to get the whole top put together that week.  Seriously, once the pieces are cut it's just a matter of sitting down and sewing.  Right?  

I cut the novelty fabrics into 4 1/2" squares.  Then I cut 2" strips to make a border around them.  I knew the top and bottom strips had to be 2 x 4 1/2.  So the side strips needed to be 2 x 6 1/2.  I mean, I did the math, and I did the math, and I did the math.  Well, maybe I only did it once.  I was pretty confident about this one.   How hard can it be to put a 2" border around a square?  Sigh.....

Nuts!  That dreaded math got me again.  Every single one of the 49 blocks I prepped didn't have strips long enough for the sides.  That's what I get for doing it in my head and not sketching it out.

The easiest fix I can figure out is to put a 2" square in the top right and the bottom left of each block.  I think that looks better than a square in every corner which would create four-patches when the blocks get put together.

So, now I have all the 2" squares cut out and ready to go with me to retreat this week in St. Louis.  

I hope those squares are cut right!
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