Planning and Cutting - Check!

OK - this was a little more than I realized. I had many fewer colors than called for, and wasn't sure how to plan things out. I couldn't just assign my colors in substitution for the pattern colors. If I doubled up on the colors, they could wind up adjacent to one another, which would look weird. I started by trying to decipher the colors of the pattern according to the drawing included. I finally gave up when I realized I wasn't sure what I would do with the information.

Next, I made a b&w copy of the pattern and divided my fabrics into 2 groups: use them more and use them less. I assigned each fabric a letter. Then I labeled the squares on the pattern with the fabric letters and distributed them around. It worked. The pattern came with an elaborate cutting chart, showing how many blocks of each type (there are 6 block variations) and how many pieces of which size to cut in each color. Using the grid showing the blocks in each location alongside my labeled b&w copy, I made my own cutting chart. I took six pages to do it! The second photo shows one page of the cutting chart. Oy.

The actual cutting didn't take that long, compared to the planning. The first photo above shows all the colors cut. The sticky notes tell the color number and the blocks to be made with the stack. Think I'll take a knitting break!