Blooming Nine-Patch finished--mostly

I finished hand-stitching the binding on my Blooming Nine-Patch quilt on Sunday. Hooray! So, the quilt is done, but still needs a wash and dry and to get all crinkly. I will have one more photo session after this, and then we will move on to other crafty pursuits. I love this quilt, but I'm ready to move on, too. Okay? Okay. 

This baby's finished size is about 76" x 87". I gained around 4" in each direction from the measurements given in the book. It's possible their measurements are wrong, or that my seam allowance was a teeny bit off, or both. Who knows. But I had to stretch my batting and backing and did not have a lot left over. 

I quilted this in an all-over curlicue pattern radiating out from the center. I did the center three orange squares with curlicues in both directions (and had to rip and redo it at the end because I wasn't happy), then in each rectangle of "solid" squares I did a row of curlicues with the loops toward the outside. In the final row of quarter-square triangles, I did loops pointing in, one in each triangle. I like the look of it and I'm glad I did it--it sure seems to finish off the quilt. 

When I was choosing the quilting thread color, I had three different spools picked out. I wanted to play up the blue and bring out those colors in the quilt, and I think this thread was perfect. It disappears into the back, which is an effect I really like (and one that will be really cool once the quilt is all crinkly and textured). The only place where I find the thread and the quilting distracting is in those middle orange squares, because there's so much contrast. But as I already mentioned, I ripped that out once and I'm not about to do it again. 

Gratuitous kitty shot.