Picnic in the Garden, an X and Plus Quilt

At retreat I was able to get the blocks for my latest X and Plus quilt made, and the center of the top assembled. Other retreaters were making X and Plus quilts and it was fun to see the variety. We had Christmas prints and Kaffe prints with dark backgrounds, and I used ditsy florals with white. Mine will be a donation quilt for Hospice. 

My original plan was to add a green inner border and a floral print outer border. I looked through my reads-as-solid green stash at home and did not find anything that would work. I also did not have enough of any of the florals for a border, and when I auditioned multiple florals, it was pretty sad. 

However, one of the girls at retreat made a picnic quilt using a gingham print for the border. Inspired by hers, I found a green check in my stash, one yard, but with careful cutting I could make it work. 

The result is a quilt top that's less "old lady formal" and a little more playful. 

Next, I cobbled together a backing from the leftover floral prints. Those prints range from vintage 1980s to current quilt shop quality. Most of them are used in the blocks in the front of the quilt. Most of them came from PCQ's stash, and the keepers of the stash will be happy if I use them for backing. 

The easiest way to cobble together a back that's big enough is to put the top on the wall, place the fabric chunks on it until it's big enough, and seam it together. Leftover blocks are good, too. An afternoon's work resulted in this backing. If you look carefully, you can see the top through some of the prints.

My next opportunity to use the long arm won't be until early September so this will have to wait a while to be quilted. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts