Since I now have a stash, I'm thinking about playing in the block lotto. (I'm new to quilting.) Everything I've done so far either has directions (cut 3 2 1/2 inch X 15 inch strips, 15 5" squares) or the size really doesn't matter as long as the blocks are all the same. With this, we only have the finished size. I'm having trouble calculating the size of the pieces. On the pinwheel, the finished size is 12.5 X 12.5. So add 1.5 inches for seams and the total would be 14". Divide that by 4 and you get 3.5 for each square. I got that far just fine then I hit a question. How do you figure the 1/2 square triangle? Do you add anything for that center seam?

Using the log cabin as an example, if I figured correctly, the center square is 2.5 and each log is 1.5. Am I figuring this correctly?

Using the pinwheel block as an example, should you make 3 blocks the same color or mix them up? I have 6 different fabrics with small white dots. I have light blue, red, yellow, green, navy and turquoise. If the instructions don't specify, do you just do what ever color you want? Should you lean to the lighter colors?

On the log cabin, should they all be the same or close close to the same, or should you mix them up? Or, does it matter either way?

bk