adventures in quilt backing

Anyone else have fond childhood memories of "Adventures in Babysitting?" This post title reminds me of that movie... Did you know Vincent D'onofrio (Law & Order: CI, the alien in Men in Black) played Thor? WHAT?! I had no idea.

Anyway, on to the topic at hand. After buying a whole bunch of batting on semi-sale, I decided my sliced coins quilt had been abandoned long enough. I already missed the deadline for the quilt along at Don't Call Me Betsy. Before I could quilt, though, I had to make the back.

Side story: I already purchased enough backing fabric, but then my friend's birthday snuck up on me, so I had to use some of the fabric to make her a last-minute gift dress. So then I was short about a yard...

I was determined to not buy any more fabric. I grabbed a few coordinating pieces from my stash, and this is what I came up with (the upper portion is all snowy white).



Ew. This is the first time I have ever ripped apart something I didn't like. Normally, I just go with it. You know, "Make it work" as Mr. Gunn would say. But this time I put my foot down. I took the bottom portion apart and reworked it by matching same-color pieces to make bigger color blocks (who cares about a little seam?)



Much better for me. I basted before work yesterday and continued free-motion quilting today. After a little more practice, the FMQ is going much better. I just need to buy a little more thread than I thought!



Looking forward to finishing this quilt up and using it for many picnics in the park this spring :)

What are y'all up to this weekend?

Mary