Now comes the fun (at least for me): selecting the fabrics for the pattern segments. As I choose white/cream for my background there is not much variance in my lights and darks. However, I did determine my light source coming from the lower right corner. That allowed me to use my brightest white there. My mind's eye saw the light source coming from overhead from that right corner. Therefore, I also selected the brightest whites for the very middle sections as well. I then decided on the balance of my fabrics as to what background was behind a leaf or farther away from the light source.
My leaves are black/blue batiks. I choose the blue/green for the larger leaves, the more solid black for the background darks, and the black squares for the lesser leaves.The next step is to press the freezer paper templates on the right side of each selected piece of fabric. My students have commented on their inability to see what the fabric will look like as the piece comes together with this technique because the freezer paper covers so much of the fabric. If you want to see the full piece, take your pattern sheet to a lightbox source (including a window), tape it face down, and retrace the pattern on the backside with an extra fine Sharpie prior to tracing the full pattern on the freezer paper as discussed before.
My pattern pieces are ready to move to the next step. I don't mind not being able to see all of the fabric. It gives me the opportunity to be surprised when I put it all together, knowing that I can always change a fabric prior to finishing it.
I thought this pattern was going to be so easy. However, preparing the fabric pattern pieces was a little more troublesome than expected. Here are some tips for cutting out the freezer paper pieces. The majority of this pattern is curved so place the freezer paper so the curves sit on the bias. Because the pieces are cut on the bias there is an opportunity for puckering when stay-stitching 1/8" around the paper edge. There are two things to assist in keeping this from happening: 1) heavily starch your fabric before pressing freezer paper on; and, 2) stay-stitch around paper edge prior to cutting the shape out. Be sure to leave approximately 1/2" seam allowance when cutting out shape.
Have fun and enjoy the process. Embellishing will begin next.