Christmas Eve In Pink!

It's a crazy idea, right?

To spend an extra couple of days piecing a backing out of hunks and chunks of forgotten yardage when it would be SO much easier to just buy 3 yards of a wide backing fabric and be done with it and onto the quilting phase of things.  Right?

Maybe.  But then there are all of those trimmed margins of that extra wide backing fabric that would be considered good enough to save for future use - and then I'm just adding to the scrap bins instead of whittling them down.  

This is how my brain works on repeat!

I know this because there ARE margins of wide backing fabrics in this pink chunk bin, along with loads of other stuff.

It's like an archeological dig.

I'm thinking I need to take on the title of Textile Archivist. Because it's in here.  All of the remnants of fabrics I have used in my 40+ years of quilting. (Boy does that number sound unfathomable!)

The pieing is random and simple.

To minimize bulk I am pressing the seams on these blocks open.

Sew one chunk to another chunk and keep going until you can trim it the size of your largest ruler - in this case my 16-1/2".

That means I only need 36 of these big blocks to make the backing the size I need it to be.

Surely that will leave a bit of head space in this bin?

Any shade of pink will do.  In any style or print.  And yes, I threw in the remaining extra block and solo unit just so they would not remain forgotten in an orphan bin.  I don't want to add to that box either!

This is where I left it yesterday.  36 blocks on the design floor, laid out quickly without much arranging.  I'll move some around today.  It got time for me to leave the studio, go grab a shower to meet up with friends for dinner.

I love that these are in here.

How many yards of fabric did I use up in the making of these blocks?  7? More?

If this quilt gets handed down I'm imagining someone exclaiming "Just what WAS she thinking?" HA! Wouldn't they like to know?

And that pink bin?  Yes, it has some breathing room, but not very much.
And there were trimmings from these blocks that were wide enough to be moved to the pink strings bin.
I think I see a pink string quilt coming up in the future.
Just as I thought - it's the Fabric Particle Theory (FPT) at work.
Fabric may start out as yardage, and it may end up in smaller and smaller pieces, but it never really decreases in volume.

There will be more baking today.  I need to do the crustless pumpkin pie that Hubster Dave loves (He is not a crust person - gluten free crust is just No Bueno in his book.)
And there are a few things needed for our Christmas dinner that were forgotten in yesterday's mad grocery rush, so yes - there WILL be a Christmas Eve stop at the store.
Please pray for me.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -
Happy Christmas Eve, Quilty Friends!
May your dreams be Merry & Bright -⁣