Designing a new block - the process

I've had an idea for my Far Far Away 2 fabrics ever since they were released, but am only now just getting around to playing with this beautiful fabric. So here's what I wanted in my new quilt block...

I wanted the fabrics to be fussy cut to show off the adorable characters but also incoporate the stack and slash method, so that there was no (or very little) wastage of fabric. I also wanted to avoid having to trim the blocks at the end (its not my favourite job), and I wanted to use a little bit of solids to break it up, but not too much.

So before I cut into the good stuff, I did some experimenting

Nope, too much trimming and wastage of fabric there. Lets try another way of cutting it up.

This way works better, not much wastage, but I would still have to trim the block and the little lines don't match up. Lets try making the blue a little wider.

Now that's what I'm talking about! No trimming needed at all. The other benefit of it coming together without trimming is that the outer border will look continuous (except for a little loss in the seams). So now lets try it on the real thing.

I like it. I think it will make a lovely quilt.

Anyone interested in a tutorial on how to make this pair of blocks?

I'm off to Australian Quilt Market in Melbourne this weekend - a trade only event kind of like Houston, but a smaller version (can anything be bigger than Houston?). I can't wait!