Pansy Power and Work in Progress

Don't you just love the smiling, happy faces of pansies? It wouldn't be spring without them. At the garden center yesterday, I picked up a large pot of pansies to bring as a hostess gift tomorrow. As I was placing it in the car, I suddenly stopped and asked myself why I hadn't picked up a pot for myself. I turned right around and bought one for me, too! Pansies rule!

I spent most of today working on my new project.  As you can see, I use an x-acto knife to cut out the pattern piece on which I am working. For example, here I have divided and labeled this shirt in three pieces.

Next,  I audition fabric pieces by slipping them under the section that I have temporarily removed. I like to use batik fabrics whenever possible since the cut edges don't ravel and you can make use of the shadings on the fabric.  I usually cut a larger piece of the selected fabric and put misty fuse on the back. The leftover pieces of fused fabric I keep in a box for future projects.

When the main pattern pieces are cut out, I move them to a flannel covered board.

At this point, I am only interested in preparing these large pieces. The photo that I used did not reveal much background detail, so it took quite some time to come up with this design. 

Then it's time to begin adding some of the other parts. Here's a peek at part of the piece so far. At this point, the figure on the left has been fused down, and I'm pleased with how it looks. 

On another note; congratulations to April the Giraffe on the birth of her son. I may be sticking my neck out, but I bet no other giraffe in history has ever received this much media attention. It has been suggested that millions have been watching the live streaming videos in anticipation of the birth. Perhaps in this crazy world of ours, it says something positive about the desire to follow this sweet story.

Happy Easter!