I placed everything where I wanted it first. Did the dab of glue stick to hold the leaves in place, THEN, I took off the plate and stitched down the leaves. Put the plate back down (I used a dab of glue stick on every 3rd petal or so to hold it in place as) and stitched around it. When that was done, I put the center on. Everything was done in a blanket stitch. Now, you don't have to put your leaves like I did....any way you wish is fine with me. For a sample block, it looks pretty good to me!