Japanese x and + Scrappy Quilt- Done!

This is my favorite ever. I'm just gonna get that out of the way.

And what's with my downstairs neighbors putting up spiderwebs in the middle of September? Also gonna get that out of the way...

So this new-favorite-ever quilt is made up of 48 Japanese x and + blocks from Amy's great tutorial. I was also inspired a lot by Leila's gorgeous quilt. I started making them last December, just a few at a time, completely out of scraps leftover from other projects. Some of the scraps go back to when I first started sewing almost 5 years ago, long before I was quilting. I blogged about some of the blocks here and here. 

There are also scraps from every other quilt I've made, from every PR&P project, from stuff I used to sell on Etsy, and every other gift and toy I've made. It's pretty cool to watch my 3 year old Hendrix sit and point out all the fabrics he recognizes from things that are still used and played with around the house. I feel like it's a sewn journal of what I've done so far. 

It's also funny how you start to sentimentalize all the places your fabric comes from, even the online ones. Of course, a lot of this fabric came from Sewn Studio, which is pretty much the reason I started quilting and became any good at any kind of sewing. But the fabrics also come from great brick and mortar shops like Crimson Tate and Whipstitch, and my favorite online sources Fresh Modern Fabric, Hawthorne Threads, and Pink Castle. 

I'm very happy with the way my quilting turned out on this one. I've gone back to pin basting, after being a sprayer for a long time. I really do think it helped my straight line quilting turn out much better. Plus the quilt feels softer without the spray baste, and I'm glad to not buy any more cans of it. Yes, the process is a little longer, but I didn't really mind. Crawling around on the ground isn't the most fun either way.

I quilted 1/8" on either side of every seam that made up the +'s and x's. It took a long time, and lots of marking, but totally worth it. I also used Aurifil thread for the first time and I loved it. This was a whole lot of quilting and I only used 3/4 of the spool. I feel like I would have spent close to the same amount for several spools of Mettler. I may be and Auriful convert now as well.

The back is all pieces from my stash, and the border is Essex linen in leather, (thanks so much Rachael!) which is a kind of weird color on it's own, but looks great against these bold blocks. The binding is a Joel Dewberry Herringbone that was also in my stash. The only thing I bought for this quilt was the thread and batting.

I love how the design of the quilting forms those star shapes on the back. Also love how you can see the shapes of the blocks through the back when the light hits it. Perfect.

I usually start and finish quilts within a month or two, but I'm so glad I took the time to work on this throughout this year. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever made and it's all from leftovers. When I think about that, it really helps me not to splurge on the 187 great fabric lines that have come out recently. I just want to start on my next scrap quilt already!

It finished at 68" by 52" and it's getting lots of use on the couch already. What a great way to start fall. Thanks so much for indulging me by looking at 4 dozen pictures of it :)