Border Fabrics for Spirit Song!

Well, I haven't stocked up properly on hand sanitizer or toilet paper, but I did make it to the quilt shop yesterday to select borders and backing fabric for my Spirit Song quilt!

Borders, Binding, and Backing Fabrics for Spirit Song Quilt

The blue print with flowers and birds (at the top of the photo) is for the backing.  The blue-on-blue spotted fabric will be for a narrow inner border, and the glorious pink, purple and orange Kaffe Fassett floral print is for a wider outer border.  That rainbow sherbet kind of batik that you see a sliver of along the left side of the photo is from my stash, and I'll be using it for the binding.  I even remembered to pick out a blending shade of 50/3 cotton thread for hand stitching the binding, which I usually forget until it's time to stitch the binding on a Sunday afternoon, the quilt shops are closed, and I don't have the right color.  Success!  Picking out the fabrics is my FAVORITE part of quilting.''

First Two Rows Sewn Together

I did get the first two rows of this quilt sewn together earlier in the week, and it was fun to see that secondary design emerge, crisp and clean, when I pressed the seam.  HOWEVER, upon closer inspection:

This Needs To Be Fixed!

HORROR OF HORRORS!!  Those two seam allowances are crisply pressed in opposite directions and YES, I pinned on both sides of the seam intersection, but I must not have had the two seams butted up against one another tightly when I pinned them.  I know that a lot of people would call that good enough, and I know that it wouldn't be glaringly obvious in the finished quilt.  I also know that I'm going to rip that bit out, repin, and restitch it because I absolutely cannot live with it like that, not after all the pains I went through to get the blue triangle points as close to perfection as humanly possible!  

That's actually what prompted me to take a field trip to the quilt shop, because I knew I would regret it if I left that mismatched seam alone, but I didn't have the heart to rip it out right then and there.  I was TIRED.  But now, after picking out the border fabrics, I'm feeling more motivated to get back in there with my seam ripper and get this fixed.

By the way, my border fabric is ANCIENT -- from the Philip Jacobs for Kaffe Fassett Collective back in 2012 -- and it was still full price.  Also I left ONE yard on the bolt, so hopefully my brain was paying attention when I calculated cut lengths for my borders.  The quilt shop does not have enough yardage to give me border-length cuts, and it's not a current fabric anymore.  I did find someone on Etsy who has two yards of it left, though.

Painted Daisy Magenta from Free Spirit Fabrics circa 2012

Anyway, I'm slightly annoyed that this discontinued fabric was being sold at regular price, but not because I wanted a discount.  No, I'm annoyed because leaving the bolt in with the current Kaffe Fassett offerings led me to assume that this was a current fabric, too.  When a fabric is current, you know the shop is probably going to get more in, or another shop will have it if you find yourself short.  I would have purchased the whole bolt if I knew that it was an 8-year-old pattern that I can't get more of easily!  This one reminds me of another early Kaffe Fassett Collective fabric by Philip Jacobs that I fell in love with and can't get more of, Iris and Peony.  I just really love those reds and purples together.

Iris and Peony in Red, Philip Jacobs for Kaffe Fassett, Sadly Discontinued

Incidentally, a quick search just turned up a few half yard and fat quarter pieces of this fabric on Etsy as well.  Of course the Etsy sellers have INCREASED the price of these "Hard to Find, Discontinued, Rare Early Prints" so I still got a bargain on my Painted Daisy fabric by paying the "regular" price for it!

In other excitement yesterday, Mister Puppy Wumpus dug up and chewed through a section of fiber optic cable in the back yard while I was enjoying my coffee on the deck, certain he was harmlessly digging up tree roots around a stump.  This is why I'm not getting any quilting done, people!  Puppies have to be watched CONSTANTLY, and by the time he falls asleep for a nap, I'm exhausted from chasing after him and I need a nap, too!