So, it's finished.  And I really liked it!  Until I quilted it.  Then, I felt pretty "meh" about it, to be honest.  I don't mean to be a downer, just getting real here.

I took my time deciding how to finish the top.  I could have gone either way, but landed on a halfway border (Kona Coffee), which adds some depth and brought the quilt to a better baby quilt size.  After auditioning many bindings, this one in Kona Coffee with a few scraps thrown in at the top won out.  I feel like the color in the binding at top left draw the eye across the quilt.  But, the otherwise brown binding blends with the quilt top to preservs the simple, minimalist vibe I was going for.  That is, minimalist with a pop of bright color.  Or course!

Also had some fun on the back.  Used up a few mini log cabin blocks that weren't quite right for the front, as well as the rest of my Kona Coffee and Kona Spice and Robert Kaufman Remix scraps.

And then, the quilting.  I like this corner, but the rest...

It was basted well. Promise!  Lots of 505 spray basting, used generously.  I marked out all the quilting paths with a hera marker in advance.  Nice and tidy.  And, I tried to prevent quilt drag by quilting around the log cabin blocks in one direction for about a round and then going out to the middle of the negative space and quilting round the log cabin blocks traveling in the opposite direction to stabilize things.  I figured that if I made a continual square spiral only traveling in one direction, then the quilting would be bound to drag.

I'm quilting on my Pfaff Smarter, which has a built in walking foot.  This quilt wasn't large, so it wasn't hard to maneuver.  I'm just saying - there are no excuses!  Anyways, I thought the quilting wasn't dragging, but then when I finished I noticed the spot where the quilting paths that were traveling in opposite directions meet.  That's where you really see the drag.  It's about 4" above and below the log cabin blocks.  When the light falls on it just right (like in the above photo) it shows.

Other than those particularly bad spots, the quilt look moderately crinkly and wrinkly overall.  For some reason, I like the look of smooth, flat quilting so much better.  Oh to quilt like Rita!  No idea how she manages it!

So, anyways, I was bummed because I had put so much thought into the quilting plan, tried to be adventurous and don't know what I could have done differently.  Obviously, the quilting doesn't "ruin" the quilt.  This is not some awful failure.  But, it doesn't improve it to me either.  I seriously liked it better before I quilted it.  And this is not the first time!  I have felt that way before - that my quilting detracts rather than adding to my work.

I washed and dried this quilt.  Was tempted to try to iron it into submission before photographing, but thought that

1. it was 100 degrees out and 80 degrees inside... prefer not to iron

2. some people like the crinkly look

3. who was I kidding.  I ought to tell you all about it anyways!

So there you have it. Please don't think I'm all down on myself.  I'm pretty jazzed about the quilt, just not the quilting.  I'm just being real here.  This is something I'd really like to get better at!  I do consider myself a "quilter" after all and I not interested/able to send my quilts out to be finished.  Your pointers are so, so welcome!