My plans were good.........

but then everything fell to pieces.
I was going to test out a pattern in my new book

and see how it went.  I picked up my fabric, pressed it and started to cut it.  Looked.....perhaps glanced is a better word.....and that was a big mistake.

Let this be a lesson to all of you.....read before you take rotary cutter in hand.

I had chosen three fabrics, one that was on the work table and two new ones.

I started with the grey fabric.  I cut a couple of strips 2" wide and then sub-cut them into 2" squares.  Then I looked down the page.  Not suppose to do it that way!  Dang it!

As I had made a mess already I opted to sit down on EQ and do a placement pattern.  I thought I had better salvage something out of this.  I ran a few blank pages off and set to work.   It's cheaper to run plain black and white than colouring it in on EQ, and then running it off.

I will definitely do this again.  I like the idea that I could take my coloured pencils and use them to make a colour guide.  I also used it steadily throughout the project.

I used 4 sheets and had the pattern larger than what the placemat would be when finished.  Each block finishes 6 x 6.....the pattern was 8 x 8

As you can see I coloured according to my fabric choices and then used the tape to hold it together.  I should have had one more, but this worked well.
I laid my fabric where it was suppose to be and then carefully picked it up and sewed it together. I then placed it back down on the guide.
I never stopped using it and doing it this way I never made a mistake.  I pressed it while I was working on it to make sure the seams went in opposite directions.

I like the way it turned out.
I would definitely use this design again for a background for something.  I'm thinking at the moment what..........perhaps use the blues for sky with green blocks at the bottom for grass.............
hmmmmm, I may have something here.
It would work better with a deeper blue where my dark blue is, but I'm happy with the design.  It is not the same as the photo.  some fancy footwork turned out pretty darn good.  I made a PDF if you want to download it here

Cutting instructions are pretty simple

Smaller squares are cut 2" x 2"

light fabric you will need 24

medium fabric you will need 12

dark fabric you will need 12

Larger squares are cut 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"

medium fabric you will need 6

dark fabric you will need 6

Placement is what makes this so be careful when putting it together.  

I'm going to bind in dark blue

Warning:  This is a large placemat......12 x 18.  

Well, winter and spring appear to be over in our neck of the woods.  Monday the temperature was 90° and yesterday we hit 91° at our back door.  Karl has planted most of the garden and just about everything is up.  Days like this are meant for the sewing room, not the computer room, so off I go to get some things done.