My Ruffle Quilt Finish

I have been trying to get this posted in earnest for a week now ... yes, its been that kind of a week :)

I started this quilt last summer with a quilt along that kind of fizzled out.  But that's OK, because I knew who I was making this for; I just didn't have a deadline for it.  Until Letters to Santa.  Sarah decided she wanted a quilt of her very own.  She was tired of using everyone else's leftovers from the extra blanket fund to keep herself warm.  Now, she does not just have one or two of these on her bed--she has a pile.  I see this as an opportunity to pare down and reduce a little.  That has yet to actually happen, but I have hopes :)

Sarah is a bit of a tomboy, so I didn't want to make it too girly, but a little girly (the ruffles) is OK.  She just turned 10, so I wanted it to be able to grow with her for a while.  Samantha picked out the fabrics--a Malka Dubrawski line.  I wasn't that thrilled with it, but the more I used it, the more I liked it--and now I REALLY like it!  Notice the orange/lime backing.  Yes, that's a stretch for me, too.

I used a batting that I wouldn't have to quilt too closely--the instruction page said I could quilt up to 10 inches apart.  The squares are about 8-1/2 inches, so that worked out fine.  Because of the ruffling, there really wasn't any quilting per se.  I just stitched in the ditch between each block.  I was worried about catching the ruffles, but it really wasn't bad.  It did take a bit of muscle.  It's the largest quilt to date that I've put together and I was surprised at how tired my arms, got, but it was worth it!