an extravagant welcome--cutting lots of backgrounds

Previously I described how to make the blocks.
Here is how to cut backgrounds in bulk.

Begin with a bunch of neutral background that are rather safe.
My usual style in scrap quilts is to have some arbitrary rule, follow it for about a third to a half of the blocks, then be rather loose with the rule for another third, then step back and see what is needed--more structure or abandon more rules.

So, I started with some white on white that remains in my stash though I thought I plowed through all of them long ago.
I've added on some backgrounds more in the tan area and have started a few shirting prints and stripes, and some gentle colors.
I am not cutting from full width yardages, wanting more variety than that will give me. My backgrounds are from fat quarters and smaller scraps.

I stack five or six 2 inch strips for cutting backgrounds.


Dress block:
From a 2 inch strip about 19 inches long:
cut two 2 by 3 inch rectangles (for the skirt sections)
cut four 2 by 2 inch squares (for the corners of the block)
cut one 2 by 1 inch rectangle (for between the legs)
cut two 2 by 1 inch rectanges and subcut into four 1 by 1 inch squares (for the head background)


Shirt and Pants block:
From a 2 inch strip about 18 inches long:
cut two 2 by 4 1/2 inch rectangles (for the bottom corners)
cut two 2 by 2 inch squares (for the top corners)
cut one 2 by 4 inch rectangle and subcut it into two 1 by 4 inch rectangles.
Subcut one of these into four 1 by 1 inch squares (for the head background)
Subcut the other into a 1 by 3 inch rectangle (for between the legs)