Finally Back to Dear Jane - Prepping B-11 Melissa's Cross and B-12 Starflower

I want to have some handwork to take on an upcoming vacation, so prepping the applique is as far as these two blocks will go for now. I paper-pieced the center section of Melissa's Cross, then attached the purple half moons.  It was freezer paper time after that.  

With guidelines drawn on the freezer paper circle to insure proper alignment, I pressed and basted the seam allowance.  The whole thing then got basted to an over-sized piece of muslin.  It will get cut to size after the applique is done.  My handwork has a tendency to draw up the ground fabric quite a bit so I like to leave some extra.

I almost did not have enough fabric to complete this block.  I used a scrap from my recent bargain bin bash in Green Bay, and it was just enough, with barely a crumb left over.  I love this batik!

I was careful this time to make all the melon tips point left on Starflower, so I can applique to the point before having to sweep under the excess fabric.  I was also super careful with placement to avoid having one wonky melon again.  We will just have to see if all my concerned fiddling makes any difference in the final outcome; it is really hard to tell with all the excess at the points in the way right now.

We went to the Botanic Garden yesterday where the wisteria are in full bloom.  The rain held off while we were there.  It was a bit early for the roses, but everything else was really starting to pop.