I am pleased with this one - for the colors and values. Quilting design? not sure but at some point, a person MUST stop considering all the possibilities and MUST make a decision. It wasn't easy to decide on a quilting design for the top. After watching my PatsyThompsonDesigns.com DVD, feeling very brave and strong, I decided on using this version of "Innies and Outies" ! You may remember, I use a DSM.
That particular pattern is really GREAT on a 9 x 12 inch sample (oh yes, I made an entire book of samples, per her suggestion!), but it takes on a different personality when used on an entire quilt. And ... when you go IN a spiral type of configuration, you must leave enough room for an OUT -- no problem on a 9 x 12 inch sample, but when the harp on your machine is about 10 inches (considered generous!), your INNIE has to be very large, so you have enough room for the OUTIE - oh yes, backward, when you can't see, does present logistical issues. One must depend on one's memory, or follow the existing line, and echo that. There is a lot of 'fluffing' and readjusting, to eliminate drag, and one really wants to make each curve in one action, without stopping and starting - difficult (not impossible) in a limited space. I would have preferred a more open-spaced design, but THAT would require larger configurations, more difficult. Miraculously, no puckers, and not too many glitches, and I only crossed over a line 3 times, getting 'lost', always on the same hard-to-see fabric.
I used a 2-ply thread, a tan and cream blend, that seemed the best choice for all these colors. The border is a viney/leafy, dried grassy pattern, open and airy. I did not quilt the light narrow border, although did stitch-in-the-ditch with invisible thread to hold it down neatly.
We quilters should devise a special award for our DHs or other volunteers who offer (agreeably) to be the "Quilt Holder." Colors are fairly close to accurate.
I believe I've said this is an EASY quilt to make. I used Margaret Dohaney 45 degree Kaleidoscope Ruler which (when I bought it 8 years ago) even came with this particular pattern. If you make it, PLEASE let me see how yours turned out. This is a very FUN quilt! It finishes about 62" x 62".