I used the Labor Day Sew-In on Twitter ( #LDSI ) to make myself focus and get this quilt completed!  On and off all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we sewed and tweeted away.  Everyone else shared multiple finishes ( it seemed to me), but they encouraged me through the various steps and cheered me along.  Monday morning I finished quilting the border and put on the binding.  Yay!

Others agreed that we don’t enjoy piecing a large quilt back, but I really think the results were worth the work.  Love this!

I quilted free-form feathers in all the card trick blocks using orange Highlights from Superior, and did a small stipple in dark brown Bottom Line on the espresso backgrounds.

In the borders,  I outlined all the cats and books using smoke invisible thread.  I swear by Superior’s Monopoly.  I zoomed through the borders at a fast speed and never had the least bit of trouble with thread breakage.  That’s very important because I can’t see well enough to rethread the needle with that darn transparent stuff!  Honestly, I did not sew around every book;  I “laddered” back and forth, alternating books, which I think still give the appearance of them all being quilted.

That border gave me fits.  I had found three yards of the out-print-fabric on Etsy, and expected to have enough to use on the back, too.  Au contrare.  First I discovered that the rows of cats did not contain enough space for cutting and seams, so I had to sacrifice a row of cats every time I cut.  Then I discovered that the rows were not all the same width.  Sheesh.  Who’s the nimrod who designed this?  So, in two corners the border miters nicely, and in the other two there is no way.  I feel that it looks as if I were careless, but it was the best I could do.  I trimmed the outer edges in such a way that I think is looks matched, if you don’t look too closely.  Oh, well.  It is a great border print.

This turned out dark and rich and cozy.  I think it will be just right for curling up with a good book, your favorite cat, and a glass of wine or cup of coffee.  And one of my Christmas gifts is finished!

I’m linking up with Finish it up Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts.