PhD Challenge Finish No. 2 - Climbing Lanterns

My original title for this post was Donde Esta La After Party, which is the title to a catchy song (hear it below).  However, I reconsidered in favor of consistency in naming my PhD Challenge finishes...and being less cryptic.

I am ready to find that after party though, because the Climbing Lanterns quilt is...dun-dun-dun...DONE!  

I know you will join me in praising the heavens above, mainly because after today we can move on to other quilt-in-progress pictures.  I've probably about worn you out with this one.  After this post, I will have for sure.

As you can see, I did an overall meander to quilt it.  It seemed like the thing to do, with the various appliqued parts (some flat, some fluffy) to maneuver around.  

Where the corners got tight, the meander got smaller.  It made sense to me at the time, and I went with it.  I used Isacord thread, as it's what I had available and had nixed my first idea of a variegated thread.  The Isacord is fine, silky, and has a sheen to it, which worked for this wall hanging.  I don't think I'd use it on a bed quilt though.  When I had to unpick a few stitches in a couple areas, it shredded pretty easily.

Here are some more close-ups.  I was a great ball of insecurity when I started quilting this, but now that it's behind me, I am pretty happy with the result.  

(Center of Back)

 Is it just me, or do you ever feel "meh" about the quilting at first, but 24-48 hours later, you're like, "day-um, that looks all right."  Because that has been my experience.

Norm was holding it up for me here, but standing in the basement sewing room with low ceilings under a fluorescent light was not very conducive to a good photo.  Whaddaya gonna do when it's dark and approaching negative digits outside?  Anyway, you get the idea of how it might look hanging on a wall.

So there it is, almost a year later, finished...after falling in love with the Lantern Bloom fabric line...finding a free pattern online...then grousing about how the branches on the original pattern resembled a craggy apple tree instead of something Chinese lanterns would actually grow on...enlisting my daughter to draw what we thought was a better version of the stems...getting only so far before abandoning the project in favor of other things...losing it behind the futon for awhile (the WIP, not my wits)...signing up for a challenge to inspire me to finish it...feeling the fear and quilting it anyway. 

A long road that ends in a happy place!

Thanks for joining me in a virtual celebration of the journey.  Now, donde esta la after party?