As you can seee I squiggled on my first attempt, and of course the picture is not clear, you get the idea.  This is going to take some practice and now I can see why ladies like FMQ, because it's almost like driving once you get the feel and know the direction you are going in. There is a slide that I must get, this will make it easier for me to control the fabric.  I'm not willing to pay 65.00 for the slider supreme. Found one on Amazon for 20.00 but it should work just as well.  The one that cost more money is for the larger quilts.  I had no sense of direction as you can see...........

This is the design, and I did try cutting the fabric up in squaares but couldn't wrap my head around it, first I was going to sew four squares together, and then put in a diamond shape and alternate the colors.  Placement is really crucial here.  Yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble to see what new sewing books they have, and also look for the quilting bible of books.  I went through about two or three and this will be my next purchase; well really I am going to have to put a dress form on lay-a-way and i think I will go with AllBrands since they have more choices. I am making a bag by the way, and it looks like it's going to turn out alright. This will be my first quilted bag. I just have the straps to put on, and sew the lining.

I should have sewn it so that the front doesn't match the back just for contrast........in other words the bottom of this piece should be another pattern of color.  Just my opinion.  I will finish the bag more than likely tomorrow.  I was working on this from 11:00 and looked up at the clock and saw it was 3:30 ......that's just how absorbing this can be.  I kept cutting the sides down because I didn't quite measure the batting.  Next time I will cut all three at the same time.......lining, batting, and then the fabric.  I have some electric scissors that I've not used.  They are so noisy, but I think I will use them because of the thickness of layers.  Don't want to dull my sharpened scissors.