First Is to Select the Fabrics

In order for this little project to work, I have to have great fabric behind the checkerboards. In a perfect world, I would buy some beautiful 1930s reproduction prints to go with these blocks. But alas I want to only use fabric from my stash and I had no stash of 30s.


So I played with different fabrics, mostly rejecting choices because the fabrics were the wrong tone. I finally came up with these possible choices for background for the checkerboards:


Okay, now I had to cut two squares of fabric and create something interesting with the fabrics. I did this by layering the two fabrics (these are "Happy" by Jennifer Heynen for In the Beginning fabrics, and a 30s reproduction fabric from Robert Kaufman designs) front-to-back so they are both facing up with the fronts. I then cut any design I wanted.

I pieced the two fabrics together: These blocks will create the design "behind" the strips of the checkerboard blocks.

One of the things I didn't understand by reading Ricky Tims book, Convergence, is that it is important to cut each piece and lay the cuts out in the appropriate design before you start sewing. Ask me why I know this... Yes, I did have to do the "frog stitch" on many of the strips. Takes time to rrrrr-i-p-it rrrrr-i-p-it rrrrr-i-p-it this much! But I did finally get two blocks together. Next: finding the second strip design!