Bluebird Star Almost Done

I had hoped to set aside an entire day for binding several of my quilts that are ready for it - but while I like the finished results of making my own bias binding, it isn't the fastest project and I managed to spend all the time I had set aside on only one quilt.

By the time I'd finished, it was way too dark to try to get any photos of the whole piece, so I had to settle for this quick self-reward photo and wait until after work the next day to get any photos of the finished quilt pre wash.

Which proved difficult. I need to start making quilts with darker fields - or learn how to take photos of such bright faces. Morning light is usually impossible for me to use - unless I can drag myself out of bed at 6 or 7 on the one day a week I know I won't have work - and even partly cloudy sun was enough to turn this one blindingly bright.

We don't have many flowers here this spring - unless you count dandelions (I do, but I'm the only one here) - so trying to get a picture with anything more than still-dead-looking grass was a challenge too.

Bluebird Park Star is such a happy, spring-like little quilt, it really deserves a better backdrop than sad grass...

This might be the best photo I've taken in terms of showing off the quilting I did on the center square. In one direction I quilted 9 diagonal lines, in the cross-direction I only did 3. I wanted the center four blocks to have Xs through them - even though I still struggled to stitch over animals and faces, sorry hedgehogs - but I didn't want to do too much quilting on the center overall since I knew the outside borders would have very little.

It looks good so far, but the final test will of course be washing it. I think the batting recommended quilting be 4" apart at the maximum - and I know that on the outer border it's nearer 4.5" for some of the blocks. I'm only a tiny bit nervous, having never had an issue before with quilting being too far apart, but I really don't want to try to add lines through all those blocks. Especially not now that it's bound! I think the 4.5" or smaller blocks ought to be find since they're stitched on every side - twice on the binding side - but of course, I'm a bit of a worrywart. But, the best solution is to find out - so I'm off to start a wash!