What IS It?

How do you know when you need a thrifting intervention? How about when you buy stuff without knowing what the heck it is?!

Okay, bloggy gals (and guys?), what the heck is this? Tonight I stopped at the Deseret Industries thrift store on the way home (no thrifting at lunch)--I had heard that walking into the store was like walking into a department store and it was. Not as much cool stuff though--mostly clothes, it seemed. But back to "the Thing." I found it in the kitchen/housewares section with a pile of wooden spoons and other wooden items. I figured it was a rolling pin, but I couldn't imagine what you'd roll with it. Still, I like rolling pins, and it was weird; it just so happens I also like weird, so I bought it. When I got home, I asked hubby what he thought, but he couldn't imagine what you'd use it for either. After thinking a bit, he asked me if it could possibly be some kind of back massager--I kinda think he wanted me to try it out on him, but I wasn't going to fall for that ploy. So, any answers out there?

I didn't get to stop by Michaels for the journals I mentioned the other day until tonight, but I bought what they had left. At 50 cents each, they're SUCH a bargain. Each of the journal covers has a bottom space where I think I can add a label, and with seven journals, I can divide the books up into recipe categories. (I may need TWO for desserts!)

Now, here's a peek at some of my thrift store purchases I haven't told you about yet. Except for the bunch of silk flowers and a picture frame, everything else piled on the bed (at least everything on top of the purple/pink quilt) was from the thrift store(s). By Saturday night, I hope to have turned it all into summer accessories for the Wild Child's former bedroom--she's coming home for Mother's Day, so I have a deadline to meet. Stay tuned and I'll get some photos over the weekend to show you how it turns out.

One more day of work and the weekend will be here! In the US, we'll be celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday. The Sacramento Antique Faire will be held again on Sunday, and we plan to go--we'll get to try out that tote bag I made for hubby's wheelchair and see if it works. After that, both our kids will join us for a mid-afternoon meal out--no cooking for this mom! How about you? I hope you have an enjoyable weekend planned--the weekend's are just too good to waste, particularly now that the weather is getting so nice!

I'm Hopeless!

Oh, LOOK! Can you see my cutting mat under there? That means I actually ventured into the Sweat Shop tonight! I didn't spend very much time there though. I'm still excited about the projects I have going on, but I haven't felt a compulsion to sew. Instead, I've been compelled to lounge around on the couch and watch TV with the hubby the last couple nights.

Jo's Club was held tonight and I found the shop had just gotten in their shipment of the Spring Quilt Sampler. Yummy shops, yummy stuff! In particular, I think I need to take a trip to Kansas and Wisconsin. I just loved the photos of those two stores! I've been to the one in Bend, Oregon, when we went to the Sisters Quilt Show a couple years ago, and that's a great shop too--in fact, I think we were in that particular shop twice during the two days we were in Bend. If you ever go--either to the Sisters show or are just traveling through Bend, I recommend a stay at the McMenamin's St. Francis School--it is truly unique and fun, particularly if you have a fondness for beer, since McMenamin's is primarily the brewing empire of the Pacific Northwest. (I don't drink much, but I do enjoy a good beer now and then!) And McMenamin's employs artists to decorate their various pubs, bars, and hotels--quite a treat to experience and a whole lot different from a stay at a typical hotel/motel. Going to Portland instead? Stay at McMenamin's Kennedy School! I've visited a couple of their other hotels to explore and dine, but I haven't been a guest in their rooms; still, I'd be willing to bet any of them would make for a memorable stay.

Well, that was a bit of a tangent! I didn't really mean to get off onto the subject of McMenamin's but I guess my flying typing fingers got ahead of my brain! Anyway, back to my planned topics: Aprons, first of all.

My blogless internet friend Sandy kindly offered to make me an apron since I haven't had any luck finding one at the thrift store, but I thought it might be fun to make one myself. She mentioned a book she has called The Apron Book, so I checked Amazon and ordered a used copy. I have no idea if I'll make the apron featured in the book or something else, but it sounded like a good book. Of course, I couldn't resist picking out some fabric for an apron while I was at the quilt shop tonight.

What do you think? Isn't that ruffled, checked rick rack irresistible? Well, I couldn't resist! So maybe I'll make an apron one of these days.

And were you wondering why I started out telling you I'm hopeless? I went back to Goodwill AGAIN today. Hopeless, right? Is there a 12-step program? My Blogland friend Mary Ann is tickled to death that I've been bitten by the thrifting bug. Mary Ann, who started my vintage apron search when she mentioned a recent trip to the thrift store that had netted her 162 vintage aprons. Okay, I'm exaggerating the number, but she found a TON! Me? No aprons. And Mary Ann, if you're reading this, I'm keeping an eye open for old patterns for you but haven't had any luck so far. Maybe that's my excuse. I HAD to go look for patterns for my friend. Are you buying that?

Okay, well how about if I tell you I went back because I was curious about all those 2-cent books and wondered whether they were still on sale? Yep, that's the real reason. Nope, they weren't still on sale. But I DID find two more books I needed to bring home--$1 each. A fortune compared to yesterday's prices but not bad.

I'm completely envious of those of you who can crochet and make those cute little crochet-edged cards. With dreams of making my own, I snagged the Complete Encyclopedia of Stitchery book. I also figured it would come in handy if I wanted to brush up on my embroidery stitches. Or--and I really can't see it happening, so don't worry too much about me--or if I want to macrame a few plant hangers. You never know. Then there was the book on crafting gifts--it looked interesting on a quick flip through.

I found another teapot today--nothing as special as the other one I found on Monday, but I like this little white teapot too.

And some of the things I've found and haven't shared with you yet--well, remember how I made those curtains and pillow covers and other stuff for my daughter's former room? All that purple and pink stuff? That was great for spring, but now that the rest of the house is decked out in its summer wardrobe of red, white, and blue, the purple and pink just doesn't seem right. Soon, I think, it will be green, white and light blue. I'll show you my other finds then. Unless my husband kills me first because I keep coming home each day with more STUFF!

And the final reason I went back to Goodwill today? I wanted to find out if they really DO put out new items all the time. And they do! I wonder what they might have tomorrow? No, seriously, I don't think I'll go back again tomorrow. But then that's what I told myself last night. And what did I tell you? I'm hopeless!

More Thrift Shop Purchases

Guess where I went during my lunch hour today? I'm HOOKED! Actually, I WAS going to go to the other Goodwill Store, but when I got there, they had a sign out front saying they were remodeling and I should visit the store where I spent yesterday's lunch hour. Being a highly suggestible individual, I did just that.

In my defense, I really didn't have enough time yesterday to look at everything, and I knew I missed some areas of the store, so it didn't take much to persuade me to return. Besides, I kept thinking about these brass knobs I saw yesterday:

Why? I have no idea! Maybe it's just 'cause they're shiny? Actually, I thought hubby might be able to do something creative, or I could use some as feet for the bottoms of boxes. There are a lot of knobs there though. But hey, what a deal! And yes, I found a few more good buys today, so it was worth the trip!

Popular--in fact, unanimous--opinion was that I should leave "Tate" on the sailboat quilt, so Tate remains. I washed and dried the quilt and it's back on the bed in my son's room. Thank you for your input--it helped me with my decision tremendously! Besides the quilt, here's my other really exciting purchase yesterday:

I collect teapots a bit--not the pretty floral transferware teapots but more the mid-century, simple-shaped, glazed ceramic teapots. Last year, I bought a yellow teapot on eBay with an insulated chrome cover. You can see it HERE. And no, that's not me in the reflection of the cover--that's the guy on eBay who was selling it. Yesterday at Goodwill, I spotted this white teapot with the insulated copper cover and I knew it needed to come home with me. I turned it over to look at the price--$2.99! The teapot with the cover removed looks much like the yellow one and is in nearly perfect condition. I was trying to do a little research on the computer last night to see if I could find out more about it, but I found very little EXCEPT for a listing at an online antique shop for a teapot that looked the same and had sold for $46 (plus shipping). I think I got a really good deal on mine, don't you?!

And speaking of deals--and I still want to pinch myself because I NEVER find good stuff at thrift shops!--today I found three quilting books. Two are Debbie Mumm books and one is Pink Lemonade--a book that I've picked up and looked at several times but never bought. And get this--and maybe you should sit down first! Apparently they were having some kind of sale on some of the books--100 books for $2. So these three books cost me 6 cents. Total. 6 CENTS! I've had to look at the receipt several times.

Okay, enough thrift shops buys for today. But will you laugh if I tell you I stopped at YET ANOTHER Goodwill on the way home from work tonight? Yeah, I'm hooked alright! Anyway, I wanted to show you one more thing that was also a pretty good bargain, although not from a thrift shop. Last Thursday or Friday, I stopped by Michael's--can't remember what for, but I know I found more than I was looking for. Michael's had a bunch of Mary Engelbreit pads, note cards, journals and other paper "stuff" at $1 each. Of course, I bought a couple things. But I also found some pads, note cards, journals, etc., marked down to 50 cents and the "art" was kitchen/fruit themed. I bought a box of "cherry" note cards and a box of "strawberry" note cards. I also bought two picture frame mats for the cards and put them in some plain black frames I had here in a closet.

Not bad--something like $5 for what I needed to put together these two small kitchen prints. I also bought one of the matching journals and I think I'm going to stop by Michael's after my Jo's Club meeting tomorrow night to see if they have any more. I've been thinking for some time now that I need to better organize my recipes and get rid of some of the books and things that are taking up WAAAAY too much space, and I think these journals might be fun for that project--a different "journal" for each recipe/food category. I've tried recipe cards in a box, and I don't like that. I've also tried putting recipes in photo albums which isn't too bad, but they're kind of large and bulky. Do you have some kind of organized recipe system? Every now and then, I buy those small Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, and other paperback cookbooks at the grocery checkout stand--but I usually only find a couple recipes I make and like (a lot sometimes!) and then I forget where to find them again. I think I want to just cut some of those recipes out and put them in these journals. What do you think? Is that a reasonable system or does something else work well for you? At this point, all I know is that I have two shelves of cookbooks and I'd really like to pare it down quite a lot. Thanks for stopping in and thanks for any helpful input you leave me! Oh, and by the way--do you know of any other good thrift stores in my area? I don't really have any lunch plans tomorrow.

Love for Sale--$5.35

I had a nice, relaxing weekend "off" and feel refreshed and ready to start "chatting" again. No, I didn't make 15 quilts over the weekend; in fact, I only spent a few hours quilting. I read--I finished reading a suspenseful mystery called Birdman by Mo Hayder and started and finished The Ever-Running Man by Marcia Muller. If you haven't read her Sharon McCone series and you enjoy books like the Sue Grafton (A is for Alibi, etc.) series that feature female detectives/private investigators, I bet you'll enjoy Marcia Muller's books. Edwin of the Iron Shoes was the first in the series. If you're interested, click HERE for a list of the series in order. Then I started another book called Dead Past by Beverly Connor.

What else did I do? I packed away all the Easter and some of the spring decorations and got out my summer things. I'll probably show you a few pictures in the next week or so. I cleaned house--that's a given when rearranging and changing things around for the season. My husband and I went out to a late lunch on Sunday with his parents and had a lovely time. (I had some really good crab cakes--YUM!)

When we started getting hungry again around 8 p.m., I threw together a late night snack of pizza--easy to do with Trader Joe's pizza dough, some leftover alfredo sauce, and a little sliced tomato and basil, and a sprinkle of cheese.

I worked on the patriotic quilt a bit, but I don't have anything to show you yet. By the way, if you don't much like mitering corners, raise your hand. Okay, I think I'm not alone then. I've added one inner border with mitered corners and I have another one to do next. It's not that I don't understand the concept but where the corners meet the side seams--I almost always have a hard time making it look just right. So maybe I'll go back to it tonight, but I'm not making any promises.

I had a wonderful lunch hour today! I didn't have any hand work with me, so I thought I'd leave the office and go on an excursion. A thrift store sounded like a good way to spend the lunch hour, although I have to tell you--I very rarely find any of the great buys that other people seem to find. Still, it was a lunch hour with nothing else going on, so I headed down to a Goodwill store I hadn't been in before. What I had in mind was looking for a "vintage" apron--I had put up this "thing" on the wall that says "Fresh" and has four pegs--wouldn't an apron look good hanging where the towel is?

No, I didn't find an apron, but what a gold mine! I ended up with some stuff I'm really pretty excited about and I spent less than $30. I'll probably show you some of my "treasures" over the next few days as I clean and polish them up and put them to use. First, though, take a look at this:

It's not very old--I recognize the fabrics from when I started quilting about nine years ago. It's not very elaborate, nor is it very big, but in my son's former room, I have a nautical theme going on, and I just put a red, white, and blue quilt on the bed, so this cute sailboat throw looks great! But it IS hand quilted, and see?

It's stitched with love by Grandma Connie! All that love for only $5.35! This is the first time I've ever bought a quilt made by someone else, other than the inexpensive ones you can get at Target for $40, and that was only when I first started quilting and wanted something quick for the beds while I made quilted accessories and eventually worked my way up to covering the beds with my own handiwork. So I'm pretty excited about this. Grandma Connie embroidered the name "Tate" on the boat. Would you leave that as is or would you pick out the name? I'm of two minds over this, so I'd like a little input. Of course I'll leave the label on the back.

And, by the way, Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! Look at what I picked up at Trader Joe's the other day--

Yes, this is the lazy gal's guacamole kit. Now if you're a purist like Vallen who actually learned to make guacamole in the land where it originated, you'd probably be pretty unimpressed--check out her recipe if you want to make the REAL good stuff. (She's not the Queen for nothin'!) But, hey, this kit from Trader Joe's is just fine for THIS lazy peasant gal!

And you know what? It tastes even better than it looks! (More thrift store buys, by the way--that little glass pot was 49 cents and the crock was $1.99. Can I get an OLE?!) Thanks for stopping in to see if I've come back from my little blogging vacation!

A Weekend Off?

I think I'm going to take the weekend off from blogging. Maybe. Unless something really exciting happens and I just can't wait to tell you or show you. But I know many of you check in every day and are used to seeing something new from me, so I wanted to let you know that if I don't post, I haven't died or been abducted by space aliens. Probably. At least the odds of either happening are remote.

I'm hoping to spend the weekend relaxing, playing around in the Sweat Shop, sleeping in, reading, and cooking (a little). And I guess I have to clean house. After all, all play and no work would probably have a detrimental effect on my character. I've stopped at Trader Joe's tonight and stocked up on a few necessities and a few not-so-necessary but irresistible stuff. I have plenty of books and plenty of fabric. I have a few crafty ideas simmering on the back burner. I have the cherry quilt and the patriotic quilt to work on. And I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on. So I think I'm set for a good weekend. I hope you have a great one too!

Come Into My Bedroom . . .

Boy am I beat tonight! It was a very hectic day at work and then I had to run a few errands on the way home. Then cook dinner. Then lay around on the sofa watching TV, too pooped to muster up the energy and motivation to make my way into the Sweat Shop. One more day of work to get through before the weekend. I'm about ready to climb into bed, but I thought I'd invite you into my bedroom for a few minutes.

A couple of you asked me about my "headboard" that I mentioned earlier in the week. I know I've talked about it briefly and posted photos a couple times before, but I think it's been a little while, so if you're sort of new to my blog, you probably haven't seen what I did a several years back. And even if you've been reading "me" for awhile, I'll show you a couple things you haven't seen before. So come on in! And please ignore any mess you see if you should decide you want to look closely at anything--I wasn't really prepared for company, but you're special!

So, there's my "headboard." (Ignore that pole on the left of the photo. It's just what I use for pole dancing. No, not really--my husband uses it to get in and out of bed because the muscular dystrophy has affected the muscles in his back.) Several years ago when I repainted my bedroom and rearranged things, I knew that wall needed something and we didn't have a "real" headboard, so I used molding strips to frame out three rectangles on the wall. They look like this:

Using a glue gun, I glued Velcro to the wall. The nice thing about the glue gun is that the glue will peel off the wall if I want. The bad thing about the glue gun is that the glue will peel off the wall when I don't want, and every time I change out the panels, I usually have to glue a couple strips of Velcro back on the wall. Still, I like the effect and I like to be able to change the look of the room, so I think it's worth it. When I was trying to decide where to place the rectangles for the panels, I chose to place them just above my pillows. If this is something you want to do, you may want to place them a little lower--or not. It's completely up to you. Here's where mine are placed without the pillows on the bed:

The panels are made with a base of foam core board. At my office, we sometimes have blow-ups made to use as exhibits at trial, and I've appropriated a few of those when trial's over and they're no longer needed. Foam core board is light weight but fairly stable--it won't bend like poster board will. I'm sure there are other things that would work as well--you need something light weight but not too easily bendable. Mainly, you don't want something so heavy that the Velcro's going to give way in the middle of the night and hit you on the head! Here's what the back of one looks like:

You'll see that I've also attached Velcro to the backs of the panels--that's what holds them onto the wall. The panels are padded with a thick batting--you can even use a couple layers--and then fabric is pulled over and around and then the handy glue gun secures the fabric. If I had it to do all over again, I think I'd just prewash my fabric and run an elastic casing around the edge so the fabric could be placed over the foam core boards and removed for washing or just to change to a different print on occasion--it would fit a little like a shower cap, except I would hope it would fit a little bit better!

If I had done it that way, I wouldn't have to store all the panels I'm not using at any given time. Right now I have three sets--the blue and white that are up on the wall (made from a cheap sheet I bought for the purpose),

a wine floral in a chenille upholstery fabric (great at Christmas time and in the winter),

and some pieced panels that match a quilt I put on the bed in the fall.

Now here's a little secret I'm sharing just with you, my close Blogland friends. Our house is small, and over the years, I've been very inventive about finding storage space. Years ago, I was watching a home dec show and they talked about bed frames designed to give a person storage space under the bed. So, when we got a new box spring and mattress years ago, I designed and built a base for the bed that I could use to store plastic bins containing off-season clothing and other things. Here's a peek under the bed skirts (I use two layers of skirts because the frame raises the bed up higher than normal to allow room for storage--the bottom skirt goes under the box spring and the top skirt goes on top of the box spring):

We have a king size bed, so I bought four boards measuring, I think, 2" x 10" and 6 feet long. On top of that is 1/2" plywood that's screwed into those boards that form the support. See the storage space I have? There are three spaces that extend the width of the bed. I used metal braces on either side of the bed that are screwed into the wood to keep the box spring from sliding from side to side.

Well, I think that probably answers your questions and then some. Time for me to climb into bed--it's waiting for me.

One Man's Trash . . .

Rhonda left me a comment today, so I popped over to visit her blog and saw a reference to "Quilts Found at the Dump" with link to another blog. Well, I had to check it out, of course, and I thought I'd share it with you because it's really an amazing story.

Click HERE to read about it and see some photos.

I think if this story teaches us anything it's (1) be alert for treasures while at the dump, and more importantly, (2) make sure your family understands and appreciates quilts! I'd certainly come back any haunt anyone who threw out quilts I had made unless they were totally and completely loved to death first!

New Arrivals

Quilters' Porn. Shouldn't it arrive in a brown paper wrapper?

One thing I like about Hancock's of Paducah is that they carry so many crazy, cutting edge fabrics, many of which are outside my comfort zone. But it kind of makes me wonder. And think. And imagine. And fantasize. Yep, a lot like porn!

I think someone at FedEx reads my blog, because I came home to find that box containing the scallop ruler and book on my front porch. Why does it take FedEx two days to move a package across the country and then four days to move it across the city to my door? It's a mystery, but I'm delighted it arrived!

And when I came home to find that box on my porch, what do you think I was carrying? This nice little bag--

And look what was in it--

Don't they do a great job of wrapping purchases at Bear Paws and Hollyhocks? It looks like a gift! And I guess it is, sort of!

More yellow polka dot fabric for the cherry quilt border--in fact, I bought all that was left on the bolt! And I found this black and white stripe too--maybe it will find its way into the outer border? Another mystery at this point! But I DO think that these fabrics I purchased today and some other recent purchases will end up either in the quilt, in pillowcases, in throw pillows, or covering the panels I put up on the wall in place of a headboard in my bedroom. Lots of wondering, thinking, imagining, and fantasizing going on here! What's that statistic about how often men think about sex? I wonder if anyone's done a study to see if quilters think quilt-related thoughts even more often throughout the day?

Triangle Talk

Hey, catchy title isn't it? Well, that's the theme of tonight's post. Someone asked me how I figure out the size to cut my setting triangles, so I thought I'd explain. I also thought I'd tell you what I've been doing in the Sweat Shop tonight.

I mentioned, I believe, that I had ordered a book and ruler for making scalloped borders for the cherry quilt. I've checked the FedEx tracking and can you believe the darn thing has been at the local "Sortcenter" since Friday? Estimated delivery is Thursday. So much for FedEx. Maybe their motto should be "when it has to be there a week later." But I'm trying to be optimistic and believe that they just SAY it's estimated to be here by Thursday so I can be happily surprised when I come home tomorrow night to find a delivery on my front porch!

In the meantime, I went back to working on the patriotic quilt. The next blocks I want to make are 3" friendship stars, so that meant making a ton of tiny (1-1/2" unfinished) half-square triangles. The triangles are made and the center squares are cut. Tomorrow night I'll be cutting the corner squares and sewing them together.

I know a lot of you love gadgets for quilting, but for the most part, I prefer to spend my "allowance" on fabric, thread, batting, and maybe an occasional pattern or quilt book, scalloped ruler notwithstanding! So, if I can figure out a way to do something without buying a new gadget, all the better. Since I like diagonal sets, I needed to figure out a reasonable method for calculating the block size needed to make setting triangles and corners. The corners are usually pretty simple. I just cut two blocks that are about an inch larger than the blocks in my quilt and then cut them on the diagonal. The setting triangles are a little trickier. Here are the two methods I use.

First of all, pretend these are two of my blocks and I want to cut setting triangles:

With the blocks on point, I line up my BIG ruler so that the "0" measure is on one corner and whatever the measurement is at the other corner is the size of blocks I need to cut--more or less.

You'll see above that the distance between the points is about 10-1/2". To give myself more than enough fabric, I would cut my squares at 11-1/2".

Let me backtrack just a bit here in case you haven't worked with diagonal sets and setting triangles. What you want with a setting triangle is a non-bias cut edge on the outside "border edge" of the quilt, so that when you add your border, the edge doesn't stretch. The two inner side edges of the triangles WILL be bias cut. So you will need to cut one square on both diagonals to make four setting triangles. Does that make sense? If not, leave me a comment and I'll take a photo to post tomorrow. So, for instance, with the cherry quilt, I needed eight setting triangles, which meant cutting two squares. I calculated the size I needed to cut using the above method. I then cut my two squares and cut them on both diagonals, yielding me eight setting triangles.

Another way to determine what size square to cut for your setting triangles is this one:

For this method, you'll need a cutting mat and a large ruler with the same units of measure (in this case, inches). Measure your blocks. Mine--the same ones I used in the above demonstration--are 7-1/2" unfinished. Find the 7-1/2" measurement on both sides of your ruler as you see above.

Position one of the 7-1/2" marks at the "0" measure on your cutting mat.

Line up the other 7-1/2" mark on the same bottom line of the mat. See where the 7-1/2" mark intersects the line on the cutting mat at around the 10-1/2" mark? So, again, I would cut my squares for my setting triangles a little larger--probably around 11-1/2" and then cut on both diagonals. Once I put my blocks together with the triangles, I'll trim the extra fabric away, but I'd rather have too much fabric than too little.

I hope this helps take the mystery out of setting triangles and diagonal sets. And if you were planning to buy a special ruler for setting triangles and this method works for you instead, just send me half the money you would have spent, okay?!?

Finally, no post these days is complete without some mention of cherries, right? I've been looking high and low for a cherry stitchery pattern I knew I had. Turned out I'm just too darn organized for my own good, because tonight it occurred to me to check a binder I have for non-quilt patterns (stuff like totes, stuffed animals/dolls, etc.) and what did I find? The cherry stitchery pattern!

And isn't it funny that when you have something on your mind, it seems to turn up EVERYWHERE? I pulled out a package of triangle paper tonight for the patriotic quilt and look what's on the front of the package! Sorry the photo's a little blurry, but I think you can see the cherries, can't you?

Cherry Quilt and Diagonal Sets

I thought I'd share with you the progress I've made on the cherry quilt. Here's what it looks like tonight:

I think I want to add a yellow border next with a scalloped edge and then the final border will be red and white. I think, anyway. I ordered a book and a ruler for making scalloped borders about a week ago and it should be here any day now. Until it arrives, though, I'll probably do a little more work on the patriotic/4th of July quilt I started piecing a couple weeks ago.

I have read and heard from a number of quilters that they have a hard time with quilts that use diagonal or on-point sets, so with that in mind, I took a few photos for a mini-tutorial that may make the concept a little bit easier. This is the method that Lindy at Bear Paws & Hollyhocks likes to teach to quilters who have a hard time with this.

First, put your blocks up on a design wall or other flat surface. Here are mine:

Now visualize a center "square"--yes, it will look like a diamond, but tilt your head a little.

Ignore the "corner" sections for now. Move them out of the way if you need to. Then piece that center square just like you would a straight set of blocks. Put the center "square" back up on the wall and arrange the corner sections in the correct positions.

At this point, you'll have to sew those corners together, but now those sections are small and easier to tackle.

Once you have the center all pieced and the corner sections pieced, you're ready to sew the final seams to join the corners to the center.

Easy as Cherry Pie?!