Thank you so much for the nice response to my Christmas Cactus Quilt Along! I’ve decided to go ahead with it. I’ll post the instructions in PDF format so you can save them to your computer if you get behind or want to work on the quilt after the holidays. At the end of the year I’ll pull the PDFs from my blog so they’ll no longer be available for download. I recommend you download the instructions if you’re at all interested in making the quilt, whether you participate in the quilt along or not.

I will post the first set of instructions tonight. It will include information about quilt and block dimensions and fabric yardage. Since it is made of a series of squares (and half square triangles), you can increase or decrease the size by changing the size of your squares. If you want a wall hanging, use 1″ or 1 1/2″ finished squares. If you want a bed quilt, use 2 1/2″ or 3″ finished squares. I worked with 1 1/2″ finished squares and I have to say, I don’t think working small is any more difficult than working with the larger squares. Just go slowly, and work with a scant 1/4″ seam.

You can make this scrappy, as I did, or use just five fabrics as my mom did. Using just a few fabrics makes it easier to do the half square triangles by using Triangle Paper (or Thangles, or Triangles on a Roll), but there are easy methods to do just a few triangles at a time, too.

Tomorrow (Thursday) I will give you instructions on making the half square triangles and the number of squares and HSTs of each color you should pre-cut. If you prefer not to pre-cut, that’s fine. You may decide to cut what you need when you make each block. I’ll include that info when I post each block. Personally, I’m glad I pre-cut all of my squares and made all of my HSTs first. It was easy to throw together a block (or four) whenever I had a little time to spare because the squares were waiting for me.

I’ll start posting the block instructions on Saturday, and will post one block each day. There are 25 blocks, and you need to make four of each block. I pinned the sets of four blocks together with a post it note that had the block number on it. However you manage them, you MUST keep careful track of the blocks! You don’t want to be sorting out 25 different blocks later.

Okay, here we go!