Having printed most of my fabrics I have now started to make the next Hidden Message pieces. I'm never quite sure what to call this process - I guess it could be called collage but the regularity of the pieces seems to fit better with the word 'construct'. And construct seems more appropriate given that I am building cityscapes. Whatever you call it I love this part of the process. For me it involves lots of sitting and looking at the design wall, lots of pinning and unpinning bits of fabric, drinking lots of coffee and eating too many biscuits! I spent about 8 hours constructing 3 pieces.

I fused acrylic felt to cotton backing fabric and cut out 3 pieces 14 x 32 inches (although the finished pieces will be 12 x 30 inches). I then started to make my skyscrapers using freezer paper as guides for ironing under edges.

I pin the pieces in place as I go and pin the whole piece to my design wall at regular intervals. What looks good on the bench doesn't always work when you try to look at the piece as a whole from a bit of a distance. I didn't really have a plan in terms of how I wanted to use the fabrics - the 3 pieces sort of evolved together. I have ended up with two paler 'day' pieces and one which feels more like a night scene. I plan on making more of these but will spend time quilting these first - stitch on these pieces will spark new ideas for the next pieces!