Serendipity

When we moved a little over a year ago, I was so excited to be back near my preferred quilt shop that I splurged and bought fabric for a bunch of different projects. Most of the projects are finished, but a couple were of the "not-such-a-great-idea" variety, and those have been sitting at the bottom of the to-do pile for months. The fabric would get used eventually, I figured, even if it wasn't in what I originally planned. But every time I looked at the fabric, I saw wasted $$. Good thing the pile kept getting deeper, so deep you could barely see the offending prints sticking out one side.

Then today I finished up a quilt top that's a prototype for a new pattern ... and also a gift for a friend who is expecting her first baby any day now. Most of my prototypes have muslin backs to save material costs, but since this is a gift, I wanted to find something a little jazzier. Most of the fabric for the front came from my stash, but I didn't think I had anything large enough left for the back ... but it was worth a try, if only to keep me from having to wake Lazy Kid to go to the fabric store before dinner.

After digging through my drawers of full-width fabric and finding nothing that wasn't too small or too ugly, I was ready to give up when I spotted one of the "not-such-a-great-idea" fabrics out of the corner of my eye. Yes, that $18 piece of red flannel was exactly the right color to coordinate with the quilt top, and it is - get this - exactly 2" larger than the top, all the way around.

For once I have exactly the right piece of fabric in my stash, exactly when I need it. Praise Jeebus and pass the ammunition, I may be able to finish this sucker after all!

Here's a sneak peek ... Kylie-Ann, don't scroll down unless you want to ruin the surprise!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.