Sew Happy to be Catching Up

It's hard to believe that the Sew Happy Quilt QAL is nearing its end. This is my very first quilt-a-long and I have loved every minute of it. Jenna is an amazing QAL host. She's quick to respond to questions and she comments on every single photo that's posted in our Flickr group. Talk about dedication! Her tutorials have been fantastic: great photographs, detailed and easy to follow. Hooray Jenna!

I've fallen behind with my blocks and I was beginning to panic. You see, there are some lovely prizes for this QAL and in order to be eligible to win, my quilt top has to be completed by March 18. Eek! That is SOON! Tomorrow Jenna will be posting the twelfth and final block and as of an hour ago, I only had nine completed. BUT! I am happy to report that my tenth block is now complete! Behold, my HST diamond:

Isn't it fun?! True, my points are not perfect, but I'm learning to embrace imperfection. Here are all ten blocks to date:

I'm struggling a little in picking the fabrics for my final two blocks. One is a quarter dresden block and the other is a paper pieced quatra star.  I've been trying to make sure I  more or less used all of my fabrics and colours evenly within the quilt, but I'm now seeing that some fabrics have been under utilized and they don't necessarily work for these final few blocks. Two of the fabrics I used in my flying geese block only appear in one other block each. Did I ever mention that my quilting instructor told me that I have a tendency to micro manage my quilts?

I also need to decide what colour to use to sash this quilt. Any opinions? I really don't know which way to go. Pinkish red? Orange? Should I just use white and let the blocks shine? Maybe the lighter purple solid? Or the dark purple jewels print that I love so much? Decisions, decisions. I hope to have time this weekend to bring all of the blocks to The Workroom where I'm sure they'll help me choose the right sashing.

Oh! Did I tell you that I finished my Sampler Quilt? Last night! Yeehaw! I'm waiting for a sunny day to take some photographs and then I'll do up a finish post. It's my first full sized quilt (well, lap size I suppose but it's not a mini!). It's beautiful and I love it to pieces. I can't wait to share it with you!

I'm linking up with Manic Monday this week. Hosted by Jenna of course! Hop on over and see what's what.