Backing for "You Are My Sunshine"

Yep, I've decided to call it that. My hope is that I'll have this finished in time to send it along to Houston to be a silent auction item during Region 10's Competition Convention. My chorus isn't competing this year (we rarely met for rehearsals in 2021) but I'd still like to have us represented in some little way. Anyway, back to the name: there will be singers bidding on this item, and it can be either a lap or crib quilt, so this song popped into my head and won't be dislodged.

But before the flimsy can be a sandwich, it needs a back!

Nothing in my yardage drawers leapt out and screamed "Pick me, Monty!" so I opted to piece a backing from the fabrics used in the front. For blocks finishing at 9-1/4", four across = 37-1/2" and six rows = 56" (unfinished sizes), meaning 39"x58" would be the smallest backing I'd want to deal with. Twelve squares of 13" (finished) in a 3x4 layout would give me 39"x52", so I'd need to extend the length by 6".

I knew one of the twelve would be the extra string block (as a label), and decided I'd flesh it out with the remaining M&M scraps. The binding had been cut, sewn, ironed, and wound on its wood doohickey, leaving not a lot for making a couple of borders. I'd do what I could.

From the red, green, blue, and purple fabrics used in the corners, only the purple had enough left to cut a 14" square (I decided to round up and give myself a little more wiggle room). The others had enough to cut a 10-1/2"x6-1/2" rectangle

which when sewn end to end would result in a 40-1/2"x6-1/2" panel, providing that 6" length extension I needed.

I wanted more than just one colored 14" block on the back, though! I have another blue, a black print on a medium blue background, that has a solid blue "wrong" side which works perfectly. I like it even better than the blue I used in the front. So a square was cut from that as well as from the gradient orange-to-yellow fabric from which I had cut the orange corners.

From my dark fabrics, four squares could be accomplished if I pieced two of them from these long scraps. Done.

The four light squares were easily cut--I've got lots of large pieces of them.

 The plan now:

I wanted the purple in one of the corners because it was short on one side, but with luck the shortness would be trimmed away when the quilting was done. The same for the string block label--I couldn't quite accomplish a full 14" block with the M&M scrap borders, so I was hoping there was enough extra in the overall backing that the shortfall wouldn't matter.

And here's the final backing:

Is it large enough to give an extra inch or so around the top?

Survey says "Yes!"

The label corner has enough fabric

and will show about 2" of the M&M border when this gets assembled.

 

An adventure in frankenbatting next!