Scrappy Trip Along Quilt- Finished!!

So I achieved my goal of finishing my Scrappy Trips quilt before I started my big girl job- I even had almost a whole week to spare! I'm getting pretty good at cranking out a quilt in a couple of weeks ;) I bet it will be much harder with a full time job, though.

I wanted to get some pretty photos because I really LOVE this quilt. It needed something more special than the oil-spotted rocks in my front yard (hazards of living with a "car guy"). So I took it to the Poetry Center. I've mentioned the Poetry Center before, right? It's where I did my internship last fall, where I spent a lot of time as a poetry-writing and studying undergrad, and it's where I've been volunteering for the past few weeks. I love the Poetry Center. It's a really fantastic place for so many reasons. The staff is absolutely wonderful. They have an enormous collection of poetry, including some really rare small run books and some awesome one of a kind artist books. They also have a huge photo collection featuring poets from the very famous (Alice Walker) to the very obscure (The Dark Bob).  If you live near or in Tucson and like poetry at all, you should visit this excellent facility. Or you know, if you just want a quiet, comfortable place to read or knit. They have the best furniture.

But you came for the quilt, so I'll shut up and show you some pictures.

You can see some of the shelves in this picture. So much poetry! And this couch? So comfy.

This might be my favorite part of the Poetry Center, though- the garden. Shaded and quiet with a little fountain for atmosphere. Great place to read or contemplate the poem you were supposed to write last week that is due in an hour ;)

I really love this quilt from every angle. All those little squares playing so happily together... I went with a neutral binding in Kona Ash so as not to detract from all the pretty fabrics in the top. I really love how it turned out! I even used a new binding method, courtesy of Red Pepper Quilts. It isn't perfect, but I think it will look much better with more practice!

My favorite part. Well, I don't know if it's my favorite, exactly, but the back is pretty fantastic. I didn't have enough of any one fabric for the backing, so I decided to piece it together from solids and near solids, most of which were also used on the front. Then, because I had a few "tubes" left with enough fabric on them for one more cutting of squares that I decided to put a nice stripe down the middle. I LOVE that it turned out exactly like I imagined it! It adds something special to the already super special quilt. I almost wish I had made it big enough for my bed just so I could sleep under this magnificence, but then I don't think my backing would have worked out so perfectly.

See all the happy little squares? Eee! Love :) You can see how I quilted it here, too- an on-point grid in every other row. I didn't want to do every row for two reasons- 1. I didn't want the quilting to be too dense and 2. I wanted the lines to meet at the corners rather than in the middle of the squares. I'm glad I went with it!

So, there you have it. Another finished quilt for me! :) Yay! I have no money at all for fabric right now or I'd probably be starting another... I guess I have no excuses now not to catch up on my bee and BOM blocks, huh? ;) Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts!