The pattern called for a double row of a checkerboard to fill in the bottom, so I made two rows of squares and laid it all out on the bed:
Then I thought, "why not separate those rows and put one above and one below the Flying Geese row?
I really liked the way that looked, and I decided to move the whole section up to the top:
The last big decision to make was choosing the sashing fabric. I thought a medium value neutral would be a good choice to set off both the light and dark sections. I cut a few strips and tried them out:
Nope. Made the whole thing too muddy. I decided that a light tone-on-tone fabric with a tiny print flower would be a better choice.
It was the most challenging thing I have ever undertaken, but I enjoyed it immensely, and it was certainly never boring. I don't think the photo does it justice, quite frankly.
After all the sorting and cutting, my previously organized stash of Civil War Repro fabrics looks like this:
At least I managed to keep the lights and darks in separate piles.
Of course, I still have to figure out how it will be quilted, and I will add some kind of border, but for now, I'm enjoying just seeing it all in one piece on the bed in the spare room.