Ooops!

So here is the finished top of my latest baby quilt. Considering the fact that I totally winged it (wung it?) from the word go, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. However . . .

As so often happens (you'd think I'd learn), when I don't buy yardage specifically for a project, I've run into trouble with the backing.

I had an inkling from the get-go that none of the fabrics I was using for the top would be big enough for the whole backing. That's okay, I assured myself. Pieced backings are cool and add interest to the quilt.

I planned on using these two fabrics pieced together for the backing.

I'd used them both in the quilt top and they looked fine together.

The backing went together easily . . . no problem.

But then as I looked at the top and backing both up on my design wall, I saw something I didn't like.

The small plaid fabric I used as the main part of the backing has a definite diagonal pattern to it. I had planned to quilt the center scrappy checkerboard pattern in the ditch which would make diagonal lines on the front . . . and the back. And no two ways about it, my diagonal stitching lines wouldn't stand a chance in the world of not being wonky with the diagonal lines of the plaid fabric. Dang. Back to the drawing board.

Do I find a way of constructing another backing piece? I've pretty much used scraps in this quilt and don't have a lot of any one fabric left now to work with. Or do I jettison my quilting plan for the front? I'm stalled. At a standstill. Derailed. Gonna have to think about this for a while.