Use the Loot

It's been so long, I think I've forgotten how to blog!
Yes, I made it back from New York, and the trip was a lot of fun. The 'Quilters Take Manhattan' event was interesting, and it was a hoot to watch Mark Lipinski and Jay McCarroll interact. I was too shy to actually speak to either one of them after the...

Hot out of the dryer - the rainbow quilt in all its colorful glory!
Hey, the back is even centered pretty decently! :-)
I decided to go safe with the quilting - stippling with grey thread to match the background. I used my poor little mini quilt to test some options, and it is such a mess now. I tried stippling with the variegated thread (didn't like it), switched to...

Thanks everyone for the feedback on the layout... I went with the last option (mostly because I really want a mini quilt to keep for myself!), and here it is just before I basted it. I love it!
I had a heck of a time choosing fabric for the back. The recipient is a 6 year old old boy, who loves the color red. I wanted something colorful and fun, but not too juvenile. I was really tempted by David Walker's collections, especially robots or boys...

This quilt was inspired by a book mentioned in this post of Deb's over at Works in Progress. To begin, I went through my stash and picked out a bunch of fabrics that were bright and saturated, and mostly monochromatic, with not too much white. I spent...