Backing for Nightingale # 3

 

To add the birds panel into the backing of the 3rd Nightingale quilt required a fair amount of math. The colored feather fabric was a 108" wide quilt backing fabric. I had to figure out how to cut that big piece apart intelligently so I could reassemble it and have it fit the way I wanted to. 

The first thing I had to do was cut two 30" panels by the length of the fabric I bought - about 2-1/2 yards. So easy peasy, right? Cut two 30" panels out of that?

Yeah, no. I'll spare you the details, but I did it. Then I had to cut two pieces of fabric to go above and below the center panel, then I had to sew the two long pieces to either side. Now you can see why I added some dark fabric around the bird panel before I added it to the backing.

Since working with these big pieces of fabric needed the whole table, I removed the lip on the bottom of the big work table that normally keeps things from sliding off. I realized I had done it when I heard the pin tin slide off and hit the floor, spilling pins all over.

Fortunately this was a non-event as I use steel pins and have a powerful magnet I use for just this purpose.

Answers to questions about yesterday's post:

Hudson wanted to know what fabric I bought for the Kangamangus quilt. It is "Quilting Treasure Frond Nouveau - Lush Leaves in Autumn. I found it at eQuilter.

Dear Naan, The Kancamagus Highway is spelled K-A-N-C-A-M-A-G-U-S. The only K in the name is the initial letter. I am spelling the title of my quit the way I heard the name way back when I was about 10, which is say I am deliberately spelling it wrong: Kangamangus.

The Lighthouse

 

It was pretty clear this lighthouse panel would be the backing of the Fourth of July quilt. But it needed to have fabric added to it to make it big enough.

I had four yards of a fabric I could use, but after doing a lot of math on graph paper, it was clear my four yards wasn't quite big enough. Fortunately I had a piece of fabric that had a water feel to it, so I added strips to the top and bottom of the lighthouse panel.

The fabric I've chosen for the backing is directional, so I had to be careful to cut it properly. I cut two panels and added them to the top and bottom of the lighthouse panel.

Printed panels made great backings, but because they are printed, they don't always line up parallel to the straight of the grain. So I had to trim the edge to be straight. One side of the panel looked fine, but the other was really curved. Fortunately perfection is not required. Yes, these big rulers are used for trimming wallboard, but they are handy for getting long edges straight.

Because reality does not often match what you think, I always line up the fabric where I want it to go, to make sure I have enough. I did, so I started sewing the two long panels to either side.

This looks pretty good. The gingko leaves remind me of clamshells.

Laying the quilt on top of the backing is something I always to do make sure the backing is big enough. It also tells me how the two fit together. It does, and really like it.

This is the reason why I pay attention to the backings of my quilts. It's the back of the quilt that lives on my bed, and my pal Julie made it. Every time I make the bed I get to see the back and how it was put together. Julie has influenced my work in so many ways.

Oh Lynne, You DIDN'T!

 

I kinda can't believe how perfect this big Jane Sassaman fabric is for the back of the Greensleeves Zebra quilt. My pal Julie gave it to me because she had fallen out of love with it. But when you use yardage like this on the back of a quilt, you have to do the right thing.

You HAVE to sew it together and match the pattern. (Oh Lynne, you DIDN'T) 

OH YES, I DID!

I lined up the two lengths of fabric, and folded the top part over until the pattern matched. Then I pressed it down, unfolded it, pinned the two layers together (because hey, how else do you get the fabric to STAY where you want it to be), drew a line in pencil so I could see it...

and then sewed along the line.

I removed the pins and unfolded the fabric to see if it lined up right. 

It did, so I trimmed the seam and then pressed it open.

ta-da!

Would you know where the seam was if I had trimmed that piece on the right? Probably not. Like many things, this isn't HARD, it's just fussy, and is clearly worth the effort to get it right.

I'll never forget what Chris Ballard said when I sent the Letters From Home quilt to her to be quilted. "I like that you didn't drop the ball on the back." If you're going to put your time into something, do it right.

Details and Updates

 

A couple of weeks ago I showed a picture of the wrong side of one of my finished flimsies. Part of the reason the backs look so neat is that I don't overhandle my pieces. I work on one quilt at a time, so I don't take them off the design wall, store them somewhere, and then take them out later. Once a block is sewn together I put it on the design wall and leave it there until I sew all the blocks together. I don't use any kind of starch or pressing spray. Some fabrics just fray like crazy no matter what you do. I was fortunate not to encounter them in the quilt above. 

When I posted about matching the pattern of this fabric for the backing of a quilt, Karen wondered if the seam allowance was sewn into the backing. I'm not quite sure what she means. We all know that the selvage edge should be removed because otherwise it will behave weirdly and pucker. After I sewed the seam above, I trimmed that outer edge away, so there shouldn't be any problem.

I received a comment from someone who said she didn't have any room to set out a jigsaw puzzle. Neither do I, so I purchased a "puzzle board." This one has four removable drawers (two are shown at the left) that slide out from underneath the puzzle surface. It has a cover that holds the puzzle pieces in place when I am not working on it (and keeps it safe from my cat). But the best thing about it is it that it slides under the couch when not in use.

I did think the 1,000 piece puzzles sucked up a big chunk of time, so I ordered a 300 piece puzzle. The pieces of this one were quite a bit larger - about the size of a dollar coin - and when I put the edges together in less than 20 minutes, I figured this was going to be quick.

An hour and twenty minutes later it was done. I'm pretty sure there is a sweet spot in between the facility of this one and the complexity of the 1,000 piece ones, but I think that is a problem for another day!

By the time you read this I'll be working back at the office after fourteen months of Working From Home. It isn't just working at the office, it's getting back out in the world. I'll let you know how it feels when I figure it out.

Back, Back, Back

 I know. Backings are boring. But I like having the decisions about them all done so I don't have them taking up space in my head. William James said "Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."

I went shopping at Quilted Threads on Saturday. If felt so nice to get out and shop at my favorite quilt shop. I bought a variety of WOW fabrics and a few yards of this fabric. 

It's an unconventional choice, but I selected it for the back of the Yellow Ribbons quilt. It might even use it as the binding, but I'll have to see after it is quilted.

I picked this fabric for the back of Aquamarine.

I liked the yellow/green and the blue and I thought it looked good with this quilt that, while predominantly blue, has a lot of green in it.

Yeah, I think this is going to be a fun combination.

Backings

I ordered backing and binding fabrics for the  58 Carats quilt. I wasn't in any rush for it to arrive, so I didn't mind waiting for it.

I picked this for the back of the Blue and brown and white Slashed Squares quilt, Goose Rocks Beach. 

The binding I chose is a light cream fabric with small squares on it in light brown, but it's hard to photograph.

This is the backing I chose for the Tutti Frutti quilt. I ordered it at the beginning of May from an online shop. In the confirmation email, they said they were overwhelmed with orders and my order would be processed in the order it was received, and I'd get free shipping. Fine by me. Two weeks later I received a notice that my order had been shipped. Two weeks later, it arrived. I was shipped from the Midwest, and I live in the Northeast. Two weeks to get halfway across the country? Good thing I wasn't in a hurry.

The Zebras tutorial is in its final stages. It might be ready in another week or so.

And Now.. The Last One

I put the words in the signature panel for the Not Paper Pieced quilt together. I love the lady at the sewing machine in the counter of the zero.

This is harder than it looks.

I call this part "quilt wrangling."

Here is the signature panel for the back of the Not Paper Pieced quilt.

OK! It fits! Yes, this is the wrong side of the Not Paper Pieced quilt, and yes, the wrong side of all my quilts are this neat and clean.

So now all my quilt tops have backings. Woo Hoo!

Early Autumn, Backing

It's no secret that I hate getting the backing ready for quilts. I've had the backing fabric and the signature panel for the Early Autumn quilt since, well... 2018. Now that Tutti Frutti is done, I figured it was time to complete some of the unfinished projects I have hanging in my closet. The quilts are finished, but these quilts needed backings:

• Early Autumn
• Not Paper Pieced
• Goose Rocks Beach
• 58 Carats
• Tutti Frutti

 So, first things first. I went shopping online and found the backing and binding fabric for Tutti Frutti. That's on order. CHECK!

Then I shopped for the backing of 58 Carats. Found backing for that. Got it on order. CHECK

Goose Rocks Beach was next. Found something for the back of that quilt. CHECK!

The signature panel for the Early Autumn quilt was complete (above) so I decided that was next. (The words for the panel for the Not Paper Pieced signature panel are done, but they are not assembled into a panel yet. I'll do that one after I finish this one.) I had bought plenty of that lovely green for the backing of the Early Autumn quilt. I don't often buy 108" wide backing fabric for a quilt, and when I do, I usually buy enough to lay the quilt crosswise, so I don't have much waste. But for Early Autumn I bought three yards. The quilt measured about 62" wide x 92" long, so I had plenty to work with.

I just had to put the signature panel in the middle of it. I laid it out on the floor and then put the quilt on top of it. I also wanted to add a small green border around the quilt itself.

I was worried that some of the shorter tree trunks around the edges would disappear. As it happened, if I set the quilt on the backing, allowed for my six inches extra on each side, I still had enough to center the signature panel. So measuring by eye as I always do, I clipped one edge of the fabric and then RIPPED it the entire length.

 Fortunately for me, it was a nice straight edge. I had a lot left over, so I trimmed out the sides of the quilt, tinkered as necessary and added a border all around the quilt.

I still had fabric left over, so I made the binding. Woot!

Back Back Back!

Yesterday I worked on backings for some quilts.

The exceptionally feminine pink barn deserved an equally feminine backing so I picked this big print from the Kaffe Collective. It's a girly barn, and as my son says, "If you're going over the top - keep going!"

The Jealousy quilt got a greenish blue border.

 I had already selected this as the backing, and I thought the red violet would make a perfect binding,

 

It looked OK, but it just didn't sing the way I wanted it to.

 The orange, on the other hand, really stood out.

Here are closeups of the border and binding.

Last but certainly not least is this Philip Jacobs fabric I chose for the backing of my Colorwash quilt.

I bought every last inch of the fabric on the bolt. It was barely 2-1/4 yards, and it involved some really fussy cutting and sewing to get it right. Binding for this will be selected later.

This Tula Pink just hopped right into my shopping bag and DEMANDED to be included in my DGD's Dino Diamonds quilt. That gorgeous owl is SO going to be fussy cut and showed off in its own big diamond!!! The final shipment of dinosaur fabrics is due today, so after those go through the washer and dryer it will be All Dinos All The Time.

Stay tuned!