I just love fussy cutting. Recently, while preparing to teach my Melon Ice pattern for a workshop, I came up with a new idea. I was actually trying to fall asleep when I started to wonder what would happen if I fussy cut the diamond centers of the block. First thing the following morning, I started combing through my stash for something that would work. I had a FQ bundle of Maureen Cracknell’s Garden Dreamer fabric and the Diamond Fragments print seemed just the thing! I immediately made a few blocks and quickly ran out of fabric. Fussy cutting the centers isn’t terribly economical, but, as I say in my Intentional Piecing book, “If it yields the results you are looking for, then it is an investment in your design,” not a waste. I ordered more fabric and carried on! I chose a light blue and darker blue print from the collection to surround the fussy cuts. I chose prints that were subtle and read as solids so that they didn’t look too busy and let the fussy cutting really show off. Rather than creating just circle shapes with the blocks as I did in my original pattern and first runner, or just X shapes as I did in my second runner, I opted for a combination of the two. See my post here for prior variations.

I quilted with straight lines in toward the center and back out again in four V shapes. I used a really pretty soft shade of thread, Aurifil 2315. I definitely got sidetracked by this project but I am glad because I enjoyed it and I like the way it turned out.  It was time well spent!