You will remember that recently I showed this quilt - which was on point.

I ended cutting off blocks along the edges like this:

But this left me with all those cut off pieces.

I decided to make what Karen Brown on You Tube calls an “After-quilt”. Hint - it’s really just a quilt backing using the leftovers from making the top.

Here’s her video explaining her method.

I decided that this little top I made from the leftover pieces which I made into half square triangles or HST - would be the basis of a quilt backing using a lot of leftovers from the top. I didn’t have a whole lot of extra leftover pieces - so I’m adding some yardage that goes with these pieces.

I don’t want to use up all the leftover larger pieces because I want to just put them back into the stash since I have a limited amount of some of these - especially the oranges. I find my stash sorely lacking in this color.

I cut 9.5” squares from the yellow and and then sewed the cut off pieces to them. After putting one of these cut offs on each side of the square, then I trimmed it down the middle to make hst. I ended up trimming those down to 8.5” and sewing them together in the layout shown below. This makes this little top only 32”x48”. The backing I need will need to be about 100”x115” or so. I failed to take a photo of a single block. Sorry about that.

Here’s how it looks on the EQ program. I drew them out so I could play around with possible layouts.

I first added a yellow border - a small one. I will now work with this to make the whole backing.

I really wanted to make a quilt top out of these HST pieces. I thought I could just add borders and use it as a charity quilt. But, I have so many charity quilt tops already ready to go and I do need a backing for that top shown above. So, I decided to attempt to do this. I will use up the big piece of amazing fall fabric shown on the left below and try to use up these smaller ones which were leftovers but I don’t feel like I need or want them in my stash.

I also had the corner setting pieces and was able to get these little squares out doing the same thing as I did with the side pieces I cut off. This time I used green squares instead of yellow.

I will trim them down to about 6” and go from there.

Then I will just make a backing. It can be a hot mess - just has to be flat. I’m thinking of using that piece of a top sideways but we’ll see. Nothing is set in stone yet. A top that is 100”x115” actually takes a fair bit of fabric - and I’m not at all sure I have enough here.

Since it is just going to be a backing - I just need to make sure it is the size I need but it doesn’t have to look any certain way. I’ve not finished it yet - as I just decided today to do this. I will trim those little squares and then start using pieces and put it together. I really don’t have a whole lot of miscellaneous things to use because I already put those pieces where they go - any leftover 1.5” strips were put in the 1.5” basket.

I put leftover 3.5” squares into a pile that I’m keeping in hopes of using them in a quilt in the future. But I’ll see what I can do. I can always go and find some more coordinating fabric to go with these things. Having the backing ready would be a nice thing to have.

And that’s it. I’ve got a cold right now and just trying to stay rested.

Have a great day wherever you are reading this! Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey.

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!

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