A couple of years ago I came across some bright, colorful, whimsical fabric that really made me smile.  Of course I had no idea what I’d make with it but I had to buy it, plus some complimentary fabrics, for whatever project would eventually evolve.

The fabric designer was Laurel Burch who overcame great physical challenges to express her art and discover a way to make a living for herself and her family.  I found her story very inspiring.  Although she is deceased, she licensed her work for a variety of uses and I think you can still find things made with her designs today. Here is a link to learn more about her.

Laurel Burch

In an earlier post I wrote about making Economy blocks and my desire to participate in a sew along (although joining late).  It struck me that this block style was a perfect way to showcase my Laurel Burch fabric.  The large piece of fabric with squares featuring winged bugs, butterflies, and hummingbirds would be perfect for fussy cutting then framing with fabric in the Economy block style.  Here are some examples I’ve made so far.

However I found out the hard way that I needed to fussy cut the printed squares in different sizes to avoid cutting off too much, beak, wing, etc. within the seam allowance as I’m sewing these together.  So now I need to settle on one acceptable size to fussy cut to be consistent with my finished square sizes.  I’ll just be creative with how I incorporate the odd-sized ones I’ve already made into my quilt.  But who knows, I may decide to continue to make them different sizes as I sew a little and think a little about what this is going to look like when I’m done.

I don’t know exactly where I’m going with this quilt, but I’ll keep you posted as I make progress!