Backing and Tops

Yay me! I finally got the backing pieced for the Hugs & Kisses quilt!

I think it's the scrappiest backing I've done so far. When you've only got so much fabric left, you improvise. This is about how much improvising I do, though. I didn't bother to do any math. I just measured, overestimated, and started sewing. Then I cut edges even.

I guess it looks a little odd.  Oh wait, now I'm seeing a bit of Tetris going on here! LOL!

Here is the top, laid on top of the backing. I wanted to make sure that it all fit.

Then, I also finished piecing and trimming my large Little Lone Star, or Blazing Star. Here it is, laid on top of its backing. When I was enlarging the block from 6" to 12", for my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, my math didn't turn out right for the strip piecing. I discovered that when I got the diamonds pieced together and two sections joined. I measured and said "Whoops, too big."

I took my measurements, plugged the same block from the block library in Quilt-Pro, and let the program tell me what size background diamonds and squares to cut. I also did that with the 12" block, cut the strips to Quilt-Pro's cutting widths, and the 12" block turned out perfectly. For the bigger block, I pieced the estimated patches in, then had to trim and square the whole block, because the pieces were too big. The block ended up about 17 1/2" square when trimmed. Then I added a 2" unfinished border all the way around. I plan on making this block into a pillow. I think so. I might change my mind and hang it on the wall.