Introducing Fused Shapes

Preface: We will not be making a finished product, just works that will be used in later pieces. Working small, and keeping our fused side down will prevent major disasters. Rotary cut only on the cutting mat, which sounds obvious, but often we get so excited that we cut right through our paper or teflon work surface. I've done it, so I know.
To fuse: cut a fused shape, place it on the fused fabric which is on the protected work surface (release paper or Teflon sheet) and just lightly touch the iron to them both. Let cool. If you change your mind, the shape can still be peeled off if you don't fuse it hard. Save your leftover bits in a container for future use.
Most important; have fun!

Let's begin by cutting some fabric! This may be the hardest part, so I suggest just cutting a strip about 3" wide from each of your primary and secondary colored fabrics. I used eight to start, but found a few related colors in my stash to show value and contrast.
 REMOVE THE PAPER FIRST. These strips will be all you will need for the first several class exercises, so you can set aside the larger fused fabrics.
We will be cutting and fusing the following shapes on our fused fabric strips.
Strips, rectangles,squares, circles, dots, X's, spirals, zigzags, triangles, and wiggles, will be our first fused shapes. Choose a base color and a contrast and use part of a 3" strip for each of these shapes, one shape each as shown below. You may overlap, run off the edge, place them symmetrically or randomly. Consider the negative space as part of your plan. Tweezers will be a great tool to help place small bits.

 Dots. Use a sharp small pair of scissors to cut these little dots. I use these all the time on most of my work. Couldn't do without them. On this sample I used complementary colors, pink+green and analogous colors, pink+orange.

X's or Crosses
Cut little squares and cut away a square from each corner. Or cut triangles from the center of each square for pointed ends.
 The leftover squares and triangles can be fused too!

 Spirals. Cut spirals by first cutting a circle, then with a scissor cut the spiral, and the go back to the beginning and remove some of the width, leaving you with the negative space to make the spiral visible. Use the leftover skinnier spirals too.

Circles. Cut the round first and then snip inside and continue to cut away until the circle is formed. On this sample I found a darker yellow in my stash to show a way to make a 'background design' which could be used in open spaces of your compositions.  

 Strips. The most used feature in my work are strips, of varying sizes and widths.

  

Rectangles. Fatter strips, cut short. I saw this used in a necklace on Pinterest.

 

Zigzags or Chevrons. Shown here with blunt ends or pointed ends, and one cut from a long tapered triangle. Here's two of the quilts where I used these: Zigzag #5 and Radiant Orb. 

Triangles. Use the leftover cut shapes from those chevrons to make these triangles. And here is an example of many triangles as the subject matter of my quilt.

Wiggly Lines. 

  

To cut this shape, draw a wiggly line with a sliver of soap on the front of your fabric. Cut near the line carefully so that the negative shapes can also be used. Mi Amiga Laura quilt uses the wiggly line shape.  

 You may want to keep your examples in page protectors and a binder, fusing them lightly onto the release paper, cut to fit.  We will be using these in future lessons.
 

Here's Zipper, a terrific work by  Linda Rudin Frizzell, which uses dots, spirals, strips, zigzags and leaf-like shapes. Note: none of the edges are stitched down. Hurray!

Questions? Please use the comment box and I will try to answer for the benefit of all.