Found My Backing... and Other "Stuff" as Well

On my most recent post I was frustrated with my inability to locate some extra wide batik yardage I knew I had because I thought I might use it on my churndash-ish Color Play of the Day quilt.  I found that backing yesterday, only to decide it would not work.  It was a pastel. It was as pale as I remembered and thought I'd wanted. But it has streaks of brown running through it that I think do not go at all with the quilt top.

I did however, find this bright, mint green batik that I like and is the right tonality. I think I will use it instead of piecing those blended stripes I was considering. One decision made! There may even be enough for a narrow binding.

There are distractions in searching through your stash, though. In digging around I found a bin labeled "To Stuff and Finish".  It contained small, seasonally oriented projects.  They may be a bit dated, but they will be great for those little snatched bits of time in the evening when I do not want to sling around a full size pieced top to back, quilt, or bind it.

I found an in-progress scarecrow wall hanging or door decoration.  My home is no longer decorated in country of the calico style, but this still might be cute to display in the fall or perhaps give away.  His main body has been stuffed and his slouchy hat like Clem Kadiddlehopper (remember that character?) has been completed.

All I need to do is attach all his accompaniments –  leaves, pumpkin, and crows.  They have already been layered with batting and completed with stitch detail.

In the same bin were some Christmas ornaments that had been sew, turned  and waiting to be stuffed. They made me reminisce on Christmases of the past.

Years ago ornaments like these used to come as fabric panels with six to eight ornaments (both sides) per panel.  I would sew them and turn them, and then my older two kids (now both around 30 years old) would help me stuff them.  Believe it or not, I have two huge storage bins of these things. I think we counted close to 200 of them once, with themes of angels, kitties, puppies, penguins, mice, Santas, soldiers, children of the world, wreaths, stockings, Strawberry shortcake, snowmen, etc. Some of those we made long ago are shown on our 2010 Christmas tree. 

I also strung tension rods with these stuffies to suspend them in windows on the first floor of our house and in the hallways and bathrooms.  I do not know if they print fabric panels like these any more, now. For a while the fabric stores did not carry them when I looked. I found this old link on e-Bay for ones just like those on the tree.

It will be like a drop in the bucket to make more, but doing so will be fun anyway, so I will finish the seven I just found.  In the same bin with the ornaments awaiting stuffing were three panels of 14 ornaments each, (yes, 42!) still not cut out, that I must have bought (probably on a post-Christmas sale) and socked away.  You know, I just might hold on to these for a few years and make them with my granddaughter or have her make them with her mom.

One thing I did not find when looking for that wide batik backing was my extra width green polka dot backing bought for my Grinch quilt in progress.  I guess I didn't store all my extra widths together, after all. Oh, well, I still have almost a year to find that.  I am setting myself a goal of finishing the Grinch quilt for my husband, an avid Grinch fan, by next Christmas.