Next Step

Now that all the blocks have been trimmed to 10.75" it is time to cut out the circles from the green fabric which is the same pattern as the gold fabric with the fruit on it.  The kit included a fat quarter of this green fabric.  The instructions say to fussy cut the circles from the fabric.  The circles are aprox. 3" so I cut out 20 - 3" squares from my wonder under ((paper backed fusible web).  I then found a drinking glass the correct size and used it as my template for the circles.  Once all the circles were drawn onto the back of the paper I then flipped the fabric to it's wrong side and started placing the wonder under in such a way that a piece of fruit would fall in the middle of the circle (please note cherries in the center of the circle on the finished block).  Once all the squares were fused in place, using a hot iron (instructions on fusing comes with the webbing) they are now ready to be cut out.  Cutting out fabric that has a design to it so that this design falls in a certain way is called fussy cutting. I did my "fussy cutting" after dinner while watching a movie.  The next day I appliqued all the circles onto center of the blocks using a blanket stitch.  I did not have a green thread that matched the fabric perfectly but I remembered that someone once told me that if you can't match a fabric exactly, go darker rather than lighter so that is what I did.  20 circles later it is now time to start laying out the quilt top and figuring out where each block should end up.  Where the blocks come together, what I am looking for is that all 4 colors (just like when I was sewing the block together) need to be represented.  There was a lot of adjusting to be done so that this happened throughout the quilt.  Think of is as putting a jigsaw puzzle together,  I did the layout on top of the queen size bed in the master bedroom....I don't have a design wall so it was either there or the living room floor.  Not to sound like an old fart but I'm getting to old for crawling around on the floor.  It took awhile but I finally got it laid out so that the colors fell correctly in the new design created where the blocks themselves intersect.  My husband is out of town so I slept in the guest room last night so as not to disturb the layout.  Have to get those blocks sewn together before bedtime  since my husband Tim will be back tonight, the clock is ticking!