Yikes, love that red, white and blue.

When enlarging or reducing any pattern, I have always found the copy machine my best friend. determine the percent increase or decrease [4 1/2" finished to 5" finished is a 11% increase.... 4.5 / 5.0 = 100/111.11 ... to figure it out - multiply the finished size you want X 100 and divide by 4.5 (the original size without seams) use the result to set your copier to make appropriate increase or decrease for blocks and triangles alike.]

The most important thing to remember ADD SEAM ALLOWANCE TO YOUR FINISHED PATTERN lines. Do NOT under any circumstances refer to a seam allowance in any original pattern as it will be way too large or too small [you can adjust the size of your seam allowance accordingly - provided you are consistent in your approach throughout whatever quilt you are making.]

Bleed test. I took a swatch of my royal blue and a swatch of my white, wet them down and laid them together for an hour or so. NO bleeding. I'm good to go as I really did not want to wash all 8 yards of the blue. If someone thinks I should do something different let me know before Tuesday. That is my slated time spot to start my blocks. (Too much going on between now and than.)

I just finished ironing 17 yards of the red I bought today. I washed it 4 times before the rinse water was clear. I also used hot water to make sure it shrank all that it is going to. I found that if I put washing soda in the wash water, more of the dye came out. But that's OK. I just don't want anything to happen after the quilt is made, no matter how it is washed. I bought so many yards [the entire bolt again] as I had another 60% coupon and I ended up paying just over $1.10/yd. I'm going to use the rest of the yardage for the backing. I think I'll wash all of the muslin tomorrow and see how that shrinks.

Oh my, Nancy, what wonderful deals you get! You are such a lucky duck.

I washed both the red and the muslin in the hottest water that I could. The muslin shrank 8% in width and 11% in length. The red shrank 11% in width. I didn't measure the length - it's on the bolt and I don't want to unwind again These numbers are why I always prewash. Different fabrics shrink different amounts in width and length. If I'm doing applique, for example, I don't want that applique to go wonky... if I want a circle, I want it to remain a circle.

I was just visiting a DJ on-line forum and ran across another way to QAYG our DJ's. It's similar to the way it's explained on this site, but it's done in manageable sections instead of individual blocks. It looks pretty interesting.

http://creativeribbons.blogspot.com/...u-gomy-dj.html

thanks for sharing the link. looks very doable. i like the layout of her DJ.

Thhis is too tedious for me. While it is lovely I could not do all that intricate work it calls for. Best of luck to all who are doing this.

I just looked at that site. Interesting and clear. That center she did looks like a nice idea; even if it isn't Jane Stickle's! That center looks like one from the Baltimore Album quilt I got to see, made in the 1840's. I'm a purist so won't do it, but it is interesting.