granny square

My granny square quilt is finished.  I posted the quilt top a while ago, and actually finished the quilting a while ago, so we have been enjoying this quilt through this COLD winter (yes, I know, cold in Texas isn't really that cold).

I fell in love with Jolene's quilt first and couldn't resist.  I did start and then come back to this quilt, because it just wasn't coming together for me.  I talk about my modification here--once I got that figured out it went together fast, and these blocks are fun to make.

I made mine pretty big, 6 blocks by 7 blocks, and I used low volume fabrics for my background, which I think I like.  I used up a ton of scraps, and overall I like it, but I think I might be over the low volume business.  I'm kinda missing the vibrancy of color on white.  I do like how the low volume makes it a bit more subdued and muted.

I guess I didn't take a full picture of the backing... I pieced together some fabrics from my stash, but the majority of it is this pretty purple plaid I picked up at JoAnns.  I like it as backing, and it would also make a great binding fabric.

bound in this fun stripe, I love the color combo on this stripe and how each stripe is about an inch.  Adds some variety to my striped binding obsession.

I ended up hand stitching the binding because my machine was in the shop, and I have to confess...I am a long time machine binder, but I kinda really love the look of hand-sewn binding.  I'll probably be doing it more often, maybe.  It definitely takes longer.

for quilting, I did straight line quilting down the x's of each block.  It worked out well because those x's all line up.  I quilted a quarter inch from each side of the seam.  Tedious and a little boring to do, but I love the overall effect, plaid-like.

I'm keeping this quilt, I just don't want to part with it.  It's one of my favorites.