Taking this as a learning experience.

So, I am guessing that I am glad this quilt is mine.  

I loaded it just before heading up to the Grand Rapids AQS quilt show knowing full well that when I came back it would be ready and waiting for me.  

Well, after accepting three quilts from a customer yesterday....I thought I had better hop to it.  

I am thoroughly disappointed in my workmanship on this quilt.  I am sure you are looking at it and saying "what are you talking about?", but if this had been a customer quilt, I would have changed course almost immediately.

I started out using red thread on the red and green areas.  I like how it looks from the front, so that is one good thing.  These are blocks that I won at a quilt retreat  (block lotto)  and not all of them were pressed with seams going in the right directions and I had to deal with some VERY thick seams  which in turn "bumped" my foot from going in a nice smooth line.

Then I went back and did all the white areas with white thread doing feathers.  They didn't turn out too bad.

Then I went back and tried out the dreaded metallic thread for the first time.  I have heard so many horror stories about metallic thread...breaking, causing major headaches, etc.....and I had none of that.  I adjusted my tension and found that sweet spot immediately and all my spirals sewed up great.  I am really happy about that!

Here's a couple close ups of the quilting on top. 

Doesn't look too terribly bad.

Here's the back with the extra blocks that I had. I used up a lot of different whites to make the back.  No close ups though because this is where I am really disappointed in my quilting.  

I DO NOT like using a dark colored thread (here I used red) on a white backing.  It shows every wobble and discrepancy.  Lesson learned.  I won't do that again.  

I will show you the backs of the stars which aren't half bad, but the points just aren't what they should be because of all those thick seams.

The stitching on the alternate blocks is where the problems lie.  

Here is the completed top.   

I will bind it in red and then put it in the washer and dryer.  I find that sometimes when there is a quilt that you just aren't crazy about, once you wash and dry it and get that comfy, crinkly look, it changes the character of the quilt.  I will see if that will salvage this quilt for me; otherwise, it will make a great charity quilt.  

So....overall, it was a  good experience in that it was practice which makes perfect; my tension was good; I practiced feathers; and I learned to love metallic thread.  Those are all good things.  

I'll let you know how the rest of this goes.