One Done, One Ugh

So I went spelunking out in the garage and found a few interesting things.  Another of which was one of the quilt tops my grandmother made.  There's at least one other, which at some point I'll get back to repairing - one of the fabrics is literally rotting away, and as it's only about 30 years old, that says something about the quality of that one fabric.  But I digress!  The one I found is in good condition, and of fabrics that are dated enough that I feel like they're starting to come back into style?  More importantly, if I quilt it up and give it to my mother for Christmas, it will hold a bit of extra sentimental value, as something made by both her mother and her daughter.  It's sized for a twin bed, which my parents don't have, but I lay twin quilts crosswise across double and queen sized beds, so hopefully it will be okay.  So I've put that quilt top on a hanger in the closet.  Five down, two to go!

For my sister's quilt, I checked with the guild president that it's okay for me to shop all the fabric that I'm storing for the guild out in the barn, and have paid the treasurer the per-yard amount that the lady in charge of the fabric sale has set.  So I have enough of a couple matching fabrics to (hopefully not too garishly!) piece the back of that one.

For my dad's quilt, I found backing fabric from my own stash in the garage.  I also cut out the binding strips today and sewed them together, as well as two contrast bands for pillowcases.  I'm hoping there's enough extra of the backing to do the bodies of the pillowcases.

And for Wonderful Husband's quilt, I did actually remember to snap a picture before hanging it up!

I'm quite pleased that I got all the directional prints, well, directional.  And there is some very careful piecing in the top and bottom of that outer border. :)  It's to be bound in the black/gray blocks that's the sashing.  It's not quite a bed size quilt (62"x76") so I'm not planning on pillowcases to go with.

And since other things were going okay, I sketched out and cut out the dinosaur quilt for Jazzy:

You can see where Jazzy was helping me color!  And, yes, the outer dinosaur fabric really is that colorful.  I left my math visible in the bottom of the picture to show you how I do in fact try to measure things pretty carefully and make sure I have enough fabric.

Except no matter how proud you are of exacting methodology, it is inevitable that you will SCREW UP once in a while.  Say, by calculating for the sashing to be 2" instead of 2.5".  And thus not having enough fabric for the bottom and two side sashes!

Fortunately an online search turned up the fabric at a quilt shop in Michigan, and I was able to buy two yards.  Enough to finish the sashing, and to make the bodies of two pillowcases, since this will be bed-sized.  But since it'll take a week or so to arrive, I'll piece what I can of the inner part, then switch over to another project.  Probably working on all the requisite backings and bindings and pillowcases for the rest of the Christmas quilts.