Fussy cut is when you see a particular print, say a flower, in your fabric and you "fussy cut" to be able to get a square with that flower in the center or where you want it, as opposed to just cutting a strip and cutting your squares from that. In other words, you are choosing which part of your fabric you want to show up in your blocks. I have done it with animals, flowers etc to be able to have that show up and be seen.