Fabric beach balls?

I didn't really plan on sewing anything today, but I was looking for fabric blocks to possibly make. We are trying to move away from plastic toys in favor of soft/wooden toys that are a bit simpler. I decided to use this tutorial. This site has a TON of great ideas for all sorts of projects.

I used mostly scrap for this project. I did the medium and small balls. I decided on black/white/green for the fabric colors.
Cutting out the green fabric. I needed two of each color, in each size.
Progress...this challenged my cutting skills because it was important to get the points pretty close in shape/etc.
Pinned, right sides together, to sew one side of each. Curves are VERY tough for me, so this was something of a toughie for me.
All of the wedges pinned and ready to go. 1/4" seam allowance for a curved item was a bit daunting to me, but it turned out OK for the most part.
As per the suggest on the tutorial, I chain pieced all of the parts together. I don't see quite how it made the balls "prettier" but it definitely made the process a lot faster.
4 of each size, separated.
Pinned and ready to make the half-balls. After they were pinned and I started sewing them, I realized it would be easier to do without being pinned.
Chain pieced together.
Basic shape after they were mostly done.
I sewed the right and wrong sides together...I had to rip the seam and start again.
Finished, unstuffed balls. I messed up the smaller one. I tried to go flower/black/green/black/etc. but I accidentally made the little one black/flower/black/green/black/green.
The circles to go on the ends. These were a massive pain in the butt.
Stuffed.
Finished ball! (Medium) I put the ends on according to the directions, and it was a PITA. I did the small ball not according to direction and it didn't turn out so good.
The end of the little ball, all messed up. Its oK though, it is securely attached.
And there we go! I hope Jack likes them. I bought him a new wooden toy, and added these in today, so out went three plastic toys (we live in a small place...one toy in, one toy out).

What did I learn?

• I learned how to chain piece. This might be useful in the future.
  
• My stitching along a curve improved greatly! The biggest problem was keeping the seam allowance. I think it turned out OK but there were a few 'holes" that I had to hand-stitch once I stuffed it.
  
• Go with the directions...they are usually tested!
  

Upcoming projects:
Breathable bumpers for Jack's crib. Bedskirt too.