April One Monthly Goal Accomplished

My One Monthly Goal for April was to find backing fabric for one of three quilts and then layer and pin-baste the quilt.  I actually finished pin-basting on the 19th and began quilting the next day.

There's always pressure when I don't yet have the fabric for a goal and have only three weeks to find it; wash and dry it; align/match the pattern in the fabric and sew the seam; then layer and baste.  I was happy to have found a red fabric that I thought would work for at least one of the quilts.  When it arrived, it was clear to me that the Buckeye Beauty, above, was the best choice for using the backing fabric that arrived.

This is the backing I found, in the photo below at the top.  It's a Judie Rothermel print, Vining Flowers, from her Journey to America Collection.

The colors in the photo are not completely accurate but close.  Because the top had so many red-range fabrics (including pinks, corals, etc), plus some creams, and some very dark red/almost burgundy fabrics, I thought this backing fabric was as good as I'd find. 

I'd been thinking about using big stitch but haven't been pleased with my experiences using size 8 perle cotton.  There was a lot of shrinkage--much more than with quilting thread--and the shrinkage was uneven.  When I stopped at one of the local craft/sewing stores two weeks ago I found two spools of  DMC perle cotton, size 12, in ecru for 10 cents each.  I couldn't pass it up and am using it for this quilt.  I hope it behaves better than the size 8 did! 

This quilt measures ~46" x ~52".  I'm quilting small Baptist Fans, just 4 arcs per fan so I don't have to move the hoop mid-fan.  I hope the quilting goes quickly. 

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal April Finish Linkup at Elm Streets Quilts where you can see the goals others have chosen for the month.  Many thanks to Patty, who hosts this link-up every month.  It motivates and helps me stay on track for quilty projects I would put off or do more slowly.

--Nancy.