Snowflake Checkerboard

I just can't seem to get over my fascination with combining shapes from the cartridges to form entirely new designs. Many of these remind me of the effects of certain quilting patterns by combining one or two blocks or changing the spacing.

This finished design looks like a summer picnic tablecloth to me - but it is actually composed of snowflakes from the Home Accents cartridge!



In this screen shot you can see the one shape that was used to create this design.



After cutting the design the outer border can be removed and used as a border for another 12 x 12 page as you can see above.



Here is the design on the mat after removing the outer border. To take the full page off the mat just work slowly and carefully from one edge.



Then gradually start on the perpendicular edge working toward the corner



The most delicate part of the design is the small weld between rows of snowflakes so be extra careful as you reach these sections



If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I have trouble throwing anything away (!) I think this design actually achieves a "no wasted paper" goal since you could use all of the offcuts - first the border



then the stars (or flowers or suns, depending on the color you choose and how you see them)



After the stars are removed, these are the remainders on the mat



The small "fancy" squares are also useful



and if you are ultra green you can save these final bits (they could be used to decorate a border strip)



Since I never throw anything away (!) I use empty Studio G sleeves from the $1 sets of stamps to store these pieces



Here is the design on a tan background



and one more close up photo of the design.



There are two baby bug version included in the file. On page two there is one that is identical to the 12 x 12 version in size and on page three there is a version which is slightly stretched to fill the entire mat. Be sure to change the mat size in the view menu to the size you are intending to cut.

Snowflake Checkerboard