City Tracks Quilt - Finished!

I am so pleased to be able to share my finished City Tracks quilt with you.  This is based on a quilt of the same name in a book called City Quilts by Cherri House.  Stunning book.  Seriously.  Check out her blog and book here. 

Her version of the quilt was in reds and purples with black bands.  It was stunning.  I went in a different direction choosing blues and green with pops of yellow and black. 

There was a break in the rain this afternoon so the Sweetie and I head over to a place near the UW.  We met up with the Kidlet and one of his friends who is also on Spring Break.  They graciously agreed to help with the shoot.  (Seriously, two 20 year guys holding a quilt in a very public place.  They might be seen by someone they knew, doing something uncool.  I was unspeakably grateful for their assistance!)  The location used to be a hot tub place that has gone out of business.  Now it has become an ever changing canvas for spray can based art.  

On the front I used solids from Free Spirit.  They  were all lined up in a row at one of my favorite stores - The Quilting Loft.  I just had to have them.  These pictures were taken in a break from the rain so it was kind of a grey day.  In the sun, this baby glows.  Who'da thunk blue would be that bright?  I am in love with the colors. 

The pieced strip on the back is from left over ends from cutting the blocks for the front.  The quilting almost gives it a plaid flannel effect which from a distance is pretty cool.  I almost like the back better than the front.  There is something minimalist about it that speaks to me.

I quilted with two variegated threads.  One was blue based and the other was a bluish/green.  On the front, you can hardly tell I used variegated thread, much less two.  On the back it is high contrast, but I could have gotten away with only one.  You have to be really, really, really close to notice.  Hey, but if you never try anything new, you never learn anything new.  No biggie.

The quilting pattern is a little off balance on the front, which works for me.  It seems to balance out the stripe in each square.  It wasn't my original plan.  One the first pass, the unquilted area in the center seemed too big - even though the batting instructions indicated stitching could be 8" apart.   How would it hold up to many visits through the washing machine?   I added two more lines of quilting in each direction for each square.  Ahh, much better.

I used Kyoto bamboo blend for the batting.  My first time using this.  It is a 50/50 Bamboo Cotton blend  Super soft but I had fuzzies everywhere.  (Super dooper soft.  Super easy to work with.)  Even after a trip through the wash there were fuzzies.  I am hoping because it is encased in fabric the fuzzies are gone for good.  This is supposed to be naturally anti-bacterial.  For anyone with children or pets that's a good thing - and many of us have both.

Remember the love/hate thing?  I love it. I hope you do too.