BOMs Away Week #8: AQS Twilight Flurries

This week I'm back to working on the AQS 2020 Christmas Countdown BOM called "Twilight Flurries".  Last month I had noted that many of the blocks still to be made have a lot of pieces and this month reflects that.  I chose to do Block #7 and Block #3.

I didn't make Block#2 this week because it has paper-pieced units and I wasn't sure I'd have time for that.  Knowing how busy the week was going to be, it had been my intention to pick the blocks and the fabrics for these over the weekend but that didn't happen.  I really didn't think I'd finish these until towards the end of the week but I got them done sooner than expected.   

However, I am learning (or re-learning) some basic quilting lessons while making the blocks for this BOM.  I'm not thrilled with the contrast of the light/medium/dark fabrics I used in these blocks.  When I had picked the fabrics they seemed fine together:

However,  you have to also consider how the fabric will look when it's cut and pieced into your blocks, how much of each will be used and where it will be placed in the block.  I'm only now really paying attention to the size of these blocks --- they are supposed to finish at only 7".  When you consider how many pieces are in some of these blocks, that makes for some pretty small cuts!  Compare how the fabrics look in Block #3 (above, center) and how two of the same fabrics look made up in a 6-1/2" (unfinished) Bow Tie block which is made with fewer and bigger pieces.  Going forward, I'd do well to cut preview shapes to use when auditioning the fabrics I'm considering.  I may re-make Block #3 at some point in the future after I see how it looks among some of the future blocks.

Despite having so many pieces to cut (for so few blocks), it went pretty fast because most of the cutting was very "gadget friendly".  A lot of it could be be die cut:

Speaking of the dies, I thought this was going to be a chance for me to try out the 6" finished Bow Tie die set I got from Accuquilt on clearance a while back.  The HST die for the set makes 1-1/2" finished HSTs (so 2" unfinished) which the instructions I had downloaded back in December said I needed for Block #7.  This is a popular size HST in a lot of Bonnie Hunter designs which means when making future mystery quilts, I could die cut that shape when needed.  A blessing if you know how many pieces Bonnie usually calls for in her quilts!  

However, after making them and then laying them out to prepare to piece them into the block, it became evident that the HSTs weren't the right size.  Huh?  I went back online to AQS and called up the instructions for that block and sure enough, the instructions had been changed to making them 1-1/2" unfinished!  Now that worked in the block design and fortunately, I could just trim what I had already made down to the right size.  Anyway, I still got to try out the die too so it's all good!

The small squares and rectangles for Block # 7 could be easily subcut with the Stripology ruler.

And for quick piecing, in Block #7 the flying geese units could be made with my favorite Quilt In A Day "Two Squares" method:

There's plenty to do for the rest of the week so I won't be sitting on my BOM laurels!  For now though, I'm heading over to Lynette at What A Hoot! Quilts to link up with her and Kate at Katie Mae Quilts for this week's BOMs Away and to see what everyone else is working on right now!