Finding just the right fabric

Quilters these days have all kinds of options when it comes to fabric choices.  No longer are we relegated to what the current stores have, along with what is in the scrap bin at home.  We can now use the internet to put together creations as unique as we are!  Also, companies now produce precut fabric lines for ease of sewing.  Charm packs, layer cakes, jelly rolls, dessert rolls, turnovers, honey buns and candy (anyone getting hungry yet) are all different cuts that are used.  And patterns have been made specifically for these precuts - what a way to save time and money on an easy quilt!!!

However, even with the precuts, you still need to find fabric that will work for the borders, binding and backing of your quilt.  I recently finished one quilt top that has been patiently waiting to be sandwiched, since I couldn't find the perfect backing.  Remember this quilt?  It's the Modern Baby Hexagon Quilt made with a Moda Citrus Brights charm pack.

It took me a long time to decide on the backing.  I wanted to make this a unisex baby quilt, since it has pink and purple, but also red blue and green, in it.  But finding something that would work was taking too long!  Rainbow stripes were too bright.  I found a great hexagonal print from Stonehenge by Northcott, but couldn't actually find it for sale anywhere!  Dots were all too boyish or girlish.  Zigzags were, in my opinion, too out there.  Finally, I went back to the basics - the fabric used was Moda Marbles.  Did that come in anything else?  Yes it did!  I have my choice of swirls or dots.

I'm leaning to the blue dot, as I have a great green in my scrap bin for binding.

And now to the second piece of joy for the day:  I was at JoAnns last week for a quick stock up, and ran across this wonderful elephant fabric in the juvenile section.  It is brand new, and I knew that I had to try making a baby boy quilt out of it.  

Isn't that just the most adorable fabric?  The argyle on the left is the backing, and the offset chevron and large elephants are for piecing the top.  I decided to play off of the argyle backing, and make a plaid style top, making stripes out of solids for the plaid portion, and using the chevron and fussy cut elephants and the blocks. That required choosing solids, but the selection at JoAnns was pretty slim.  I was playing around online yesterday, and stumbled onto Pink Chalk Fabrics.  They have preselected fat quarter "stacks", and one was designed for QuiltCon 2013.  And what do you know, the colors are perfect!  Its on its way to me now.

So remember, quilting is meant to be fun.  Don't stress about the right fabric.  It'll come along.  Just spend the time waiting finding more inspiration!