Thanks, again for all the kind words and the GREAT advice! You all have made this experience even more exciting than it was already!
As for design wall, I had to have something today (impatient much??), so I grabbed a vinyl table cloth and taped it to some foam core boards. It's holding everything up for now, though it's not big enough at this point. It will be a nice small spot until I can do something a bit more permanent.
I know I will rearrange these blocks...I just couldn't wait to get them together to try and envision the end product. Here are the blocks I have done so far:
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And to reiterate how few scraps I have from my 4 yards...Here are the end trimmings along with the 2.5 X 22 inch strips that will likely be borders:
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