WHERE DID THIS COME FROM???

This is an example of what I mean by finding fabric I've never seen before. I swear I do not remember ever laying eyes on this before. But it was folded in with my batik FQs so unless the fabric fairy has been leaving gifts I must have gotten it with one of the groups of batiks I receive every month.

But what in the world to do with it? It's not even flat as some of the squares have very pronounced buldges in them. I guess I can take some of the excess up by making those seams a bit bigger. But there still remains the question - what in the world do you do with something like this?

I have to admit, my first impulse was to toss it in the donation box. Then the part of me that loves a challenge started to see possibilities. I've come up with 2 that might work.

First, pull out one of my Fabled Flowers books and applique some of the 3D flowers to it using really bold colors so they'll stand out against the busyness of the background.

Second, baste a piece of black on the back, draw simple shapes on about 6 of the squares and reverse applique them to the black. I think that will give a dramatic effect with the very dark black showing thru the bright batiks. I'm thinking, a heart, star, simple flower, cat silouette, and maybe a circle and diamond. All just randomly placed wherever I think they'll fit best in the background.

I think I'm leaning towards the second choice but at this point could be easily swayed if any of you have any ideas you'd like to send my way.

This is a prime example of why I have so many UFOs. I come across something that piques my interest and I have to stop everything to work on it "just for a little bit". And I never seem to get back to my original project because most times I get sidetracked by yet something else!