I am not sure if it is considered cheating or not, but because the majority of my quilts are kids size, the task of finishing them is not as daunting/labor intensive as an adult size quilt.  I must admit I do like the fact I can try an idea or color scheme out with out too much commitment.   With the gretchen quilt I wanted to try two things I had not done before –  the pattern, which is a very traditional quilt pattern and the orange/blue color scheme.  Here is the results….

I must admit I am really pleased with how this quilt turned out.  The colours pop and the pattern looks complex but is really quite easy.  I blogged about this quilt block a couple of weeks ago, and included a couple of links to the pattern.  You can click here to find it if you are interested.  I went the paper piecing route and the only annoying thing was using the tweezers to remove the bits of paper wedged where eight corners meet.  I did learn a valuable lesson with this – if possible remove as much of the paper corners before you sew the blocks together.  I really does minimize the tweezer work and save time in the end.

I did simple straight line quilting, following the lines of the block and then stitched around the center of the square.  I am still traumatized by the stipple quilting I did recently and think straight lines are still the go for the next couple of quilts.  In my quilting defence (i) there is no stitching in the ditch and (2) I think the quilting compliments the piecing.

When it came time to put the back together I found in my stash the most perfect backing fabric….Ed Emberley’s Giraffes from his Happy Drawing collection.

I love this print and will have to track down some more, as I used it all on the backing.  The design is fabulous and very boy appropriate.

For the binding I choose a solid navy/denim cotton which seemed to work really well.  I hand stitch all my binding and the little bit of stretch in the fabric made it easy to work with.

Now I am heading back to my pink & yellow quilt.  After posting my work in progress this week, my niece has claimed the quilt as hers, so I am trying to get it finished fast.