I first posted about the “Dinosaurs” quilt by Elizabeth Hartman a little more than a month ago.

It has been a very s-l-o-w process.

This is one of the very few quilt patterns that I have purchased. I can quite often recreate the pattern for a quilt I might like with graph paper and a ruler. But there is no way in a million years I would have been able to figure this one out. Ms. Hartman deserves every penny I paid her for this quilt pattern! So many bits and angles and seams. Amazing.

It’s partially been a slow process because of Little Miss Athena. If she is awake, she expects to be the center of my world.

Despite Athena, I have sped up the process quite a bit. It took me making about three blocks to figure out the optimum sewing station. Now I have a small cutting mat on the small cabinet to my right, sewing machine on the table, rolling cart with pins, wonder clips, and tools on the left side. Tray of fabric pieces to the left of the machine. And no ironing board. Sans ironing board because I am really afraid of Athena getting burnt. Curiosity killed the cat, you know!

Here are my main tools….

I am big on pressing. The hot iron, wool mats, and the tailor’s block are usually some of my very favorite tools. But, due to Athena, I have started “rolling” my seams. I was a big doubter that little roller could press my seams enough. But that little guy does a really good job. Or perhaps, good enough. And I can mark the cat as safe!

I’ve also been using the hera marker to mark the many many many diagonal seams.

And, of course, the ripper has been used extensively!

The easiest block is the Triceratops. Here’s the tray of pieces for the last one I just finished! All nicely labeled because I would be lost without them! The stegosaurus is the most difficult. But the T-Rex is my favorite. Looks like he is wearing cute boots!

As I made each block, I put them on a temporary design wall. (The temporary design wall is batting hung up on the murphy bed cabinet!)

At first choosing the fabric was overwhelming for me. But as I started making the blocks, I found it quite fun to mix up the colors and prints. I didn’t completely follow the designers suggestions but I think what I have picked works!

I am “goal oriented”. And the first goal for this project was to have the panels for the top half of the quilt done this week. AND I DID IT!

This is for my grandson’s Christmas present. While “goal oriented”, I’m also a realist. There is no way that I’ll get the bottom half done and then everything quilted by December 25th. Hey, it’s the holidays. I want to have fun, too!

Next goal is to have the bottom half of the quilt done by the second week of January and then finished by the end of that month. I think that is a realistic time frame and I CAN DO IT! Hey, the baby is only 7 months old, I don’t think he is going to know that I missed Christmas by six weeks!

And just want to say, I am really enjoying making this quilt. But now, I am getting a bunch of company and I will be having fun with them. Then back to all the wee pieces!