I'm not a superstitious person but this, the 13th block, is a stinker. Tiny pieces, tiny pieces, tiny pieces. Did I mention it has tiny pieces? If that isn't enough let me tell you about the measurements of those pieces....

If I rotary cut and machine piece the block based on the EQ7 cutting guide (which is what I'd do with only squares, rectangles and a few triangles), the block's finished size will be 5 1/4".
I knew when I was drafting it that the usual rounding measurements to the nearest 1/8" was going to cause problems but I didn't realize it would add up to 3/4" overall.

I changed the print settings in EQ7 to round measurements to the nearest 1/16th of an inch thinking I'd find a way to get around one or two odd sizes. That plan bombed in a big way. All those cute little squares in the nine patch sections have a cut size of 11/16" which makes them 3 1/6" finished. I don't know about your rulers but none of mine have 1/16" markings and if they did I probably couldn't see them anyway and it's not just the squares, it's almost every piece. I had 11/16" x 3 11/16" rectangles, 11/16" x 1 1/8" pieces and on and on. Note to self: don't use 1/16" EQ rounding EVER!

Here's a look at the back of this cutie -

In the end I've come up with what I hope will give us an accurate block. It's a series of two individual foundation patterns. One is used to construct the center (and two inner border strips) section of the block and we then use that as the beginning of a second foundation pattern to add the rest of the border strips. You still might want to cut the last round wider and make a final trim to the 5" unfinished size. That's what I'm going to do. I'm also going to add a hefty dose of Bailey's Irish Cream to my coffee before I tackle this one! There are 89 pieces in this block - follow the diagrams and you'll do just fine.

Midget Mania Block 13 - Missouri Puzzle

Block 105

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