Ewan's baby quilt - finished!!

You guys already saw a little sneak peak of this quilt on my 10 Quilty Little Secrets post - but here today to show you the finish!
ewan
My friend recently had her baby very early. She was taken by surprise - unfinished nursery, unfinished baby quilt, and baby in the nicu. Not what a first-time mom wants to deal with. I was very honored when she asked me to quilt little Ewan's baby quilt (she had finished the top).
ewan 2
This is the first time I've ever quilted someone else's quilt and it was both enjoyable and nerve-wracking. I was very flattered, but I knew how important and meaningful this quilt was!! I didn't want to risk messing up someone else's quilt.
ewan 3
I'm assuming that long-arm quilters feel this way - at least when they first start out. I've sent a few quilts off to be long-armed before, and it was interesting to be on this side of that relationship, so to speak.
ewan 4
Since this quilt was a lot different than quilts I normally piece, I had the opportunity to try out some designs that wouldn't normally work well in my quilts. My absolute favorite was this swirly pattern. It's called "Ocean Current" and I found it here on Leah Day's site.
ewan 5
I'll definitely be using it from here on out!
ewan 6
Using blending thread was also relatively new to me. I know, that sounds weird! But I'm wayyy into contrasting thread, so I haven't really done this before. I must say, it was strangely liberating - little mistakes are unnoticeable, and stitching in place to anchor my thread starts/stops didn't create any visible, ugly buildup. Normally I have to hand-tie and bury all my knots to avoid said buildup - man, what a time-saver! I figure that if Angela Walters just stitches in place to anchor her ends, it's good enough for me....so uh....you'll see a lot more matchy-matchy thread in the future!
ewan 7
You can really see the different textures created by the quilting here. I don't know how hard it will be to do the swirly design over a larger area, but I'm hoping to be able to do it again soon!
ewan 8

Finished QuiltAmy Garro