mpeters1200

Guys and Gals...

I simply cannot process the math to piece this #*()@$%*U backing. I would post pictures, but have figured out that the pictures from the dang cell phone kill the color and it takes away from the whole piece.

I have a bit of an issue. I have a 25 x 50 table runner. There is a good size piece of the fabric I used for one of the borders. Ideally, I would like to put that on the back, but I don't think there is enough. The piece I have is 39 x 44. Is that enough to cut off some from the width and add it to the length?

If it isn't, I have a few more possibilities. I have a REALLY long scrap, but it isn't very wide. It's 12 3/4 x 110 inches. How would I figure out how many cuts to make, including seam allowances, to get a piece both wide and long enough? Could I somehow add this piece or pieces of this fabric to get the length I'm looking for when combined with the original piece?

Here's another possibility. Same "focus" fabric in the backing, but adding to the length another piece...perhaps on both ends to make it even. It's 36 x 47.

Since neither of the scrap pieces really coordinate SUPER well with the focus piece, and I don't have a favorite of the 2 additional pieces, could I piece those together to make the backing? Maybe the brighter one in the center and the dark ones on the sides, top and bottom. I just can't wrap my head around all the cuts, seam allowances and pieces in order to build a back.

In a moment of exasperation, I threw my entire stash out on the living room floor and just went through it helter skelter. Thankfully, everything I have fits in a little closet, but it was still a big mess and it's EVERYTHING I have so I can't just run to the fab store and buy 2 yards of some type of coordinating fabric even though I know it would make my life easier. If I go into next week and still don't have it figured out...I'll be going through the piggie bank and finding me some fabric no matter what....but I digress.

How can I piece this? It shouldn't be too difficult to piece a backing that's smaller than any quilt I've ever made. Why does it seem so )#%@(!@)%(* hard? I've been sitting here with 8 sheets of notebook paper, my calculator and I just can't get it to work right. Is it really as impossible as it seams?

HELP!

Melissa