Embroidered Blocks Galore!

I know there will be some reading my postings who aren't sure of what a Tripple Irish Chain looks like. The pic above shows a plan that I worked out on my computer using Excel and colouring in the squares - easy peasy. The middle 'chain' should actually be a darker shade of blue, but it printed out the same colour as the 2 chains either side. This centre chain is the one that I'm making with the lighter fabric instead of a darker one.

Here is the first block finished (I've made 4 so far but need to purchase more material before I can make more). I think that the centre pale chain stands out really well against the other fabrics. Although, you won't get to see the 'chains' until I have put quite a few blocks together.

These are a selection of the embroidered squares that I have done to place in the middle of the second blocks. I've used about 4 different designs and stitched them in various colour combinations. I didn't want these to detract from the chains, therefore I have only used 4 colours (lilac, purple, fuschia and green). Unfortunately I did make an error when cutting the blocks. I knew that I needed them to be 10" finished square. So dutifully I cut them all to 10 1/2" to allow 1/4" seam allowance. As I put the first one in the embroidery machine, realisation hit me - I should have cut them slightly larger as the embroidery will pull the material in slightly. Unfortunately, I was right (for a change LOL). The squares are now measuring approx 10 1/4". I think what I'm going to do to rectify the problem is cut them down a little more and add a border around them in one of the other material. Hopefully, when I've finished, it will look as though this was my intention from the beginning!

This last photograph gives a bit of insight as to how the second block will look when it's put together. The squares aren't in the correct order around the sides as I just laid the embroidered square on top of one of the block #1's. But at least it gives an idea of where I'm going with this one.