A Trade: Win-Win

 Recently Libby of Life on the Hill posted about a project she's working on with a red paisley print as a focal fabric. Libby and I have similar tastes and I admired her project in the comments. Her paisley reminded me of a very large cut of red floral toile in my stash, bought and then not used for backing for a king sized quilt. My print would be the perfect backing for Libby's project. I asked in the comments if she would like to talk about a trade. 

So we talked. Well, yes, Libby likes French General; she'd be open to trading. What would I like in exchange? I asked for equivalent yardage, her choice. As I said, we have similar tastes and I had total confidence that she'd choose something I'd like. She nailed it. 

She sent fabrics I can use in donation quilts, mostly masculine and/or for kids. She coordinated them so they'd go together in case I don't have other coordinates for them in my stash. (As if - I can find plenty! 😉 )

Sock monkeys! Red text! Hard to find Hunter Green! A geometric print and a really good neutral. Great combination. 

But wait, there's more! Stars, animals, and coordinating prints for a kid's quilt. 

I had to drop everything and come up with a plan for the animal print. It's actually a two-yard length, 24" wide. I see borders, strips, and chevrons. I've already started making a few of these....

(That chartreuse green reads yellow in photos and I can't fix it without dulling 

down the bright orangey-red, so we'll have to make do with lousy pics until I

can get some outdoor shots of the finished project.) 

And I wasn't the only one so inspired by the trade that I had to drop everything and play with the new-to-me fabric immediately. Check out what Libby is doing with that floral toile here. Beautiful; perfect use for that print. 

I'm so glad we could trade. That floral would have languished in my stash forever. It's pretty, I like it, but I don't ever see having a use for it. I'm glad Libby can use it. Likewise, I'm glad to have some new prints to play with in the donation quilts I make, which are mostly masculine since that seems to be the biggest need. 

Thanks so much, Libby! 

Link ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt