SIZES OF BLOCKS:
I started out with 2" squares as I wanted the block to finish small (5") for teaching purposes. Gather up your scraps for the wonky corners or use those older pre-cut HST's up and you'll have a quick 9P block! Some of the blocks may come out a smidgeon under 5" like mine so you can compensate for that when sewing the blocks together with a smaller seam.
TAKING A LOOK AT THE BLOCK:
The first thing you notice is the high and low contrast of these blocks or maybe the unusual color combinations! Some colors and combos really stand out! This is what creates your depth and movement in your quilt. The dark colors recede and the light ones pop right out at you! They are brought to the frontlines! Depending on the shades of colors you use, the fabrics you pair up and the placement of the different type blocks all play an important part of the design of this quilt. Placement of the blocks and rotation of the blocks are both important factors in determining how well the depth is shown and movement is shown.
IDENTIFICATION OF THE BLOCK:
Before we do anything, we need to know how to identify a block by the type it is. Once you can identify the block properly, you'll then know what to make and where to place it. Before we look at the different types of blocks that make up this quilt, we will examine the block.
Normally the largest size piece of the block is what identifies it. In the Shoo Fly pattern, the background is largest so a block with a dark background would then be called a 'dark' block. In the quilt I just finished a tutorial on, the Square in a Square pattern, it was hard to tell whether it was a dark block or a light block because there are so many things grabbing your attention in that block, I could see how people would not know what type it was or where to place it. If you have a dark block with a really bright highlighting centerpiece, what would you call it? First of all, you would call it a dark block no matter what part of it stands out no matter how small the piece is or bright the whole block is.
Here are pics of some of the dark blocks and here is a pic of the light ones.