And everything else

Sarah did this the smart way and began with a plan in mind. She had a color scheme, borders and backing all chosen and prepared, and now that it's done, it all matches and looks lovely.
I chose to do mine as more of a random sampler. When I looked online at other people's finished quilts, those were the ones I liked the best. But now that I'm finished, the daunting task of choosing sashing, border, and backing fabrics is upon me. Eeek!
I went to Marshall's, Ross, and looked at several stores online for some sheets to use-- the flat sheet as the backing and the fitted sheet sliced into sashing. But to no avail! All I found were ugly or boring, and those weren't quite what I was going for.
Eventually, after spending (ashamedly) two days looking on fabric.com, I found exactly what will make me the perfect quilt.
I'll use navy blue for the sashing between every square. I've seen some quilts online with light sashing and some with dark, and I definitely like how the dark color emphasizes the quilt blocks! Plus, I've done a quilt in the past with navy sashing, and it looks great with everything-- kind of like jeans, I guess.

Happy Holidays Texture Navy

Then for the cornerstones and a border, I'll use this beautiful floral:

Aunt Grace in a Pickle

And I fell in love with this gold floral pattern for the back and the larger setting triangles on the front:

Camden Blender Floral Gold

I don't want the backing to be so busy that the whole quilt feels like a hurricane for the eyes. But I don't want it so plain that it's boring. I felt like this was the perfect match.
Thankfully, a couple of the fabrics were on sale, I bought enough to get free shipping, I used an online coupon that saved me $10, and then I bought them through my ebates account, which gave me a couple dollars back. So yeah, I'm pretty much the best online shopper ever! (This time...)
Sometimes I make fun of Kevin when he orders something online and then gives me hourly updates on its whereabouts: "Ooh, it's left the warehouse! Ooh, it's on the truck! Ooh, it's scheduled for delivery!" But I did check a few times over the last couple days, and when I saw it was out for delivery today, I ran downstairs to get it, even before the package list was printed for our building. :) I'm so cool!
So I'm excited to wash these and get started on putting this bad boy together!

#85, 86, 87

#85 Square Dance

I like the Chinese fabric in the center, and since it's such a large square of it, I think it looks nice. This is the only square with such dark colors and burgundy. But at this point, the squares are so random that it's hard to say that one doesn't match. None of them really match!

#86 Squash Blossom

Squash blossoms are orange, and I love that this one looks vaguely like it would fit into a Navajo rug. This makes me happy, since squash was an important staple for the early Americans. I tried growing zucchini squash on my balcony this year, and we've had a couple flowers so far. I'm glad it's not the staple of my diet, though, because I'd still be waiting for my first meal.

#87 Star Gardener

Okay, I'd sworn off all the blocks with a gazillion of the #13 triangles. They take forever, and since there are a million tiny pieces, if you're even a tiny bit inaccurate in your cutting or stitching, it will throw off the size of the whole block (ahem, darting birds!). But I've gotten a lot better at cutting and sewing more accurately. I know that I need to lean towards a scant 1/4" seam, and when I did so, this block turned out exactly the right size! I kind of love it, and it was worth all the cutting and sewing.

#82, 83, 84

#82 Spider Legs

This one is not my new favorite. I like the fabrics together, but I had thought they would turn out a little more 50/50, not so overpowered by the leaf print. And then there are about a gazillion pieces in this square, and it doesn't really look as cool as it should for the work that went into it. I give it a C+.

#83 Spider Web

This one gets an A, though. It's hard to go wrong with red and white, isn't it? They're matching fabrics-- the same design and same colors, just reversed. So I thought this was the perfect square for them. This one kind of makes me hungry for pizza, though.

#84 Spool

This one is simple and simply lovely. If I were going to make a whole quilt of spools, though, I'd definitely use this super cute pattern!

#79, 80, 81

#79 Silver Lane

I didn't much care for this pattern. The more I looked at it, the more I didn't like it, and I couldn't find colors to change my mind. But when I made it all ONE color, various shades of red, I liked it much better. It's still not my favorite; it's a bit too random and busy. But it will do well enough.

#80 Single Wedding Star

I REALLY like this one! I could make an entire quilt of this design. It really looks circular, but then when you break it down, it's just rectangles and square-within-a-square. I love it when things look really complicated but then are actually quite simple like this.

#81 Snowball

This one isn't a new favorite. A real "snowball" block is just a solid square with little corner triangles. This one has big ol' corner triangles and a "window" in the center, neither of which make me happy. Plus, I was determined to use this pastel floral print, and I'm not terribly thrilled with the combination. Oh well. It will be a busy quilt. I'm sure I won't spend all day looking at this one.

#76, 77, 78

#76 Sawtooth

When I had cats, I thought it was really hard to keep them away from my sewing. They liked to sit ON my fabric, bat at the thread, and meow pitifully through the closed door when I banished them from my sewing room. Now I have two little daughter helpers, and I realized I had NO IDEA. These girls can use scissors. They want their own threaded needle and some fabric. And forget banishing them outside-- these girls can open doors!

So I try to let them help whenever I can. And that's why Naomi is reaching into the picture to grab my quilt square. At least she doesn't have scissors in her hands!

#77 Seasons

This was-- hands down-- the simplest pattern to sew. Even though it's set on point, it's really just a 9-patch. So, two trips to the ironing board, and I was done!

#78 Shooting Star

This one took a few more than two trips to the ironing board. I keep the ironing board in a different  room than my sewing machine. Mostly it's to keep it out of sight, but it's also because, while I like sitting and sewing all day, I don't want to look like I sit around all day. So I take trips from the bedroom to the dining room, and it keeps me young. :)

#73, 74, 75

#73 Rainbow Flowers

If something's called "rainbow flowers," it should probably have more than one color. But I love these greens, and I realized that since it's my favorite color, there should be more green in my quilt. This is the essence of that realization.

#74 Ribbons

And... more green. I like these colors together, and I already used them in Flower Garden Path.

#75 Rosebud

Okay, for a previous block (I forget which) I cut out a bunch of these purple triangles. But I cut them out wrong or I cut too many or something. So I had a pile of purple triangles and some scraps that worked out perfectly for this block. And what do you know, the background is green! Yay for green week!

#70, 71, 72

#70 Prairie Queen

I like the idea of this, with a solid and a busy print, but I really don't like how it turned out. The busy print is just busy, instead of being complimentary and busy. I'll probably redo this one at the end.

#71 Puss in the Corner

Wow, 0 for 2. I kind of hate this one too. The solid pink is too boring, and the brown is too stark of a change. I'll probably redo this one. Maybe I'll put the ugly ones together for a quilt of ugliness. Any takers?

#72 Railroad

This one, though, I can get behind! I love these colors together! They match and compliment each other perfectly. I would be happy with a whole quilt of these colors. If I had more of the floral print, that could become a reality. But I only have a teensy bit left. Sad day. 

Maybe I'll remake the first two with these fabrics!

So 1 for 3. Better luck next week, me!