Made the first llama block tonight. Glad to say there was only one piece cut wrong, not too bad considering so many different little pieces cut on quarter inch increments. Boy do you have to read the instructions closely. Not one of my strengths. So this first block has a couple of extra pieces, where I had to sew some fabric back on when I did a snowball corner piece too early. With 24 blocks I will have it down by the end.

You go girl.Connot wait  to see the block or complete quilt.I am now making reversible little dresses for the Africa Girls.

I have been known to enlarge instructions so they are more easy to read. Highlighter pen helps as well.

It's something I started doing when my eyeballs "matured".

Wow that sounds like a really complex pattern. I am sure you will get it down pretty quick and be whipping that herd of llamas out in no time. 

it's not that they are small, just you do need to read.  Her illustrations are well done and I have a tendancy to look at those and not READ.  Well, you do need to read.  I was zipping along nicely, sewed on the snowball corners (GG) at the bottom.  Went to add the legs and hmmm, they don't fit.  Did I cut the spacer between the legs wrong?  Nope.  Ah, I didn't add piece EE.  And of course I had already trimmed behind GG.  So I added a couple of seams.  You can't tell because there are so many seams already.  This really reminds me of paper piecing but without the paper.  Lots of seams.

Here is the 1st one.  The ears won't be as pointy when finished, the tips will be sewn into the seam above - right now they look a bit like horns. 

I do need to figure out how to get organized.  Last night I had all 39 pieces laid out on my cutting table (many are either 1" or 1.25" wide), but I won't have that much room at the retreat.  I had packaged them in a baggie for each complete llama.  But now I'm thinking it would work better to package them in sections instead (face, legs, ears, etc) as that is how she has her instructions organized.  Her instructions are well written but I wish she had given some ideas on organization.  I remember Judy Neimeyer's quilt I made several years ago had very detailed instructions on organization that made the entire process VERY easy.

how about adding a flannel board to your tools you take - you can lay out an entire llama, and work from her instructions for the pieces..

I had a mini quilt I did years ago that was a hand piecing project. I took each template and cut out all the pieces I needed for that template.......then I threaded a needle and pushed it thru the center of that stack. For the several years I schleped that project around it all stayed perfectly organized that way. If you cut each lama and then layer each template in the same order and when you are ready to make one take all the parts for that one llama and put them on a little design board in the correct layout. This way they are all organized and as you go you just need to deal with the parts for one of them. If you have a paper template at the bottom of each stack you will always know what those parts are. That is likely how I would approach it but I know we all work differently so you might come up with a better solution for you.

I just love the first one and I can't tell there is a mistake. Just adorable. If I made this I would be tempted to make one mirror image on in the group just because there is always one that didn't get the memo. Your daughter is going to be over the moon with this quilt!!!

Ami_Quilts (sewingupasto) said:

If I made this I would be tempted to make one mirror image on in the group just because there is always one that didn't get the memo.

Ami, that is such a marvelous suggestion!!!!!!!

Just want to hug that little llama because she is so cute.  (Yes, I can tell it's a girl llama because her choice of colors is so feminine.)

Ami, thank you I'm going to remember this tip for the next time I do a crazy bunch of small pieces quilt.

Jo