Alayna's Grad Quilt, Blocks and Problems!

The first thing I did was sew black framing strips around the saying pictures.  This should have been an easy thing.  However, I made an incorrect assumption that came back to bite me!  I ASSUMED that the panel pictures were SQUARES. I measured across, and cut all my framing strips from the black fabric.  WRONG!  The pictures are actually 1/2" taller than they are wide.  So, half of my strips were too short, and I had to cut them again.  Wasted fabric?  Maybe not, since they are 1.5" wide strips, and I can probably use them in a different project someday. However, it WAS a waste of time and energy! Lesson learned.  OK, so I adjusted the pattern. Onward.  Here is how it looks so far:

The turquoise background fabric was from a piece leftover from another project.  If I framed the block in the normal way, sides first, then top and bottom, I would not have had enough to do all four center blocks.  As it was, I had wanted the turquoise blocks to be in the corners and center, but didn't have near enough for 5 blocks, so 4 had to do.  I could only get the 4 framed turquoise blocks if I cut all the strips the same length and sew them using partial seams around the black-framed saying.  Not really a problem, but not the usual way of doing things.  It didn't take long to do the turquoise blocks.  Next, the split color blocks.  Nothing complicated here, and it didn't take long either.:

I auditioned black strips as dividers on the outer border but didn't like it.
I will use the blue background around the pictures as it is.  I will use a
black binding though.

Tomorrow: Borders go on!!