Etsy shop sale

I have put everything in my Etsy shop on a huge sale :)  As much as 50% off!
I have several quilts on sale:

Why I love Moda Bella solids

I love Moda Bella solids!  I have tried other solids, but the fact that Moda Bella is *the same width* as quilting cottons is huge.  I have used other brands and been disappointed when they were quite a bit narrower (shorter when cut into strips to use with jelly rolls). 

Having fun today with some jelly rolls and Moda Bella 'Horizon Blue'.  Isn't it such a bright cheery color?!

Piecing a quilt backing

My mom and I did a ladies day out for my birthday on Wednesday - we were actually picking up my car (it had some engine work done on it), so we made a couple stops on the way home.  One was a quilt shop we had never been to before.  I finished my civil war quilt top recently, so I was looking for a backing suitable for it.  I found a brown/cream print in the clearance section of the quilt shop - it was marked $5/yard.  Then, they had a coupon for an extra $2 off - so it was $3/yard!  THEN, when I was having it cut (I got 5.5 yards), my mom mentioned giving me my birthday money - and the clerk mentioned they give 20% off  for birthdays.  So, 20% off the $5 was $4 - then $2 more off - making the material $2/yard!!!  So, even with tax, the backing was only $12-something!!!  What a deal!

Anyhow, I realized quickly when I got home that I should have gotten another 3 yards - my quilt top is 90.5''x90.5''.  Usually, I will piece in material from the front to make up in width, but I really didn't want to do that on this quilt.  So, I used this calculator/technique and found I had JUST enough to make the quilt backing JUST BARELY big enough.

I did it a tiny bit different - instead of moving the triangles until it was the width I needed, I estimated how much offset it would need and cut 7.5'' off of the tips of the triangles before sewing the diagonal back together.  If I do it again, I think I will do only 7'' because it is barely long enough, but plenty wide now (it is 91''x94'').  This is the most common size quilt that I make, so I am sure I will be repeating this.

This is how the seam looked on the back:

And, on the front, you can barely tell it is pieced!

Success I would say!!!

Bright Sun, Moda happy mail

Yesterday was Moda Happy Mail day!  I got this lovely bunch of fabric to start a new project for Moda Bake Shop :)  Fun, bright colors!  Fabric is ''Bright Sun'' by Sherri and Chelsi