Quilt Redux

I swear I posted a year ago or maybe it was two about my failed Christmas present quilt to Judes but alas I can't seem to locate it. So here is a rough breakdown: I found a "simple" pattern online, bought supplies, waited way too long to get started on project, panicked and tried to get it done quickly, ended up making husband pack sewing machine in car for road trip to NC so I could work on it there, and finally failed to actually create a quilt. To this day, I like to blame the fuzzy, chenille blanket I bought as the backing (per instructions that said it was a quick and easy way to avoid using binding - I will confess they didn't suggest using chenille blanket but they also didn't tell me not to).
A good year passed and often I would think about that failure and have dreams of my poor mother freezing to death under a quilt that wasn't even a complete shape but it was the only one she had (yes, that last part is made up but play along).
So fast forward to a rainy night in maybe March when I left husband and children at home and risked my life at JoAnn's. I was not going to let that quilt haunt me anymore. I painstakingly (aka wished I had made someone go with me) selected fabrics based on new "simple" directions from Amy Butler (I am certain she will befriend me when she hears of my success even if I didn't use her fabrics). So I bought the fabric and as is par for the course it sat in my office for a long period of time. At first I planned on this being a Mom's Day gift, then I moved to a birthday present (June), then I moved to an Anniversary gift (August), and then I forced myself to acknowledge that this was going to be a Christmas present.
I worked on and off since about September (sad but true) but then got serious about two weeks before we were going to leave and this is where things got dicey and I made the decision to order a backup gift.  Call it Murphy's Law or call me a rock star but despite my one major set back (I managed to sew the entire quilt so the batting was on the outside), I was able to complete my first quilt. The only outstanding question is whether I need to put little ties in it to hold it together.

Riding on this success, I am mapping out some big plans for 2011.