jnelson - I think it is very sweet of you to make this for your girlfriend, and if it were me, I'd treasure it even more if it came from your hands. It seems you've received lots of replies re: fabric. I'd like to address your questions about assembling the quilt. If you like the cheater fabric as is, then you can certainly leave it that way, layer it with backing and batting and quilt it. However, if you end up with something that you think is too small, you can add 4 strips of fabric to the outside edges of the panel to make borders. If the individual bear blocks need something, you can cut them apart, sew strips of fabric around each block (this is called sashing), then sew the blocks together. There are no rules, it's simply what YOU think looks best.