ta-da! the car quilt is … finished!

and i love it, love it, love it!  i decided to go with a stripey binding (my first non-solid binding!) and ended up finishing the hand-sewing in one evening, with the help of hulu and episodes of arrested development.  that is some funny stuff.

here is a full shot of the quilt top hung on the backstop at the park across the street from my house:

in my head, i usually orient it vertically (not horizontally), but i’m not tall enough to hang it that way for the photo, so you’ll just have to turn your head or your monitor.

loopy, loopy quilting.  it’s quite a mess, but i actually sort of like it that way.  mr. happy stuff “doesn’t get it.”

and here is the back (i used a lovely, lightweight dark denim that my grandma gave me from her stash):

i’ve even tried it out in my car to see if it works (that’s my toasty warm feet up on the dash):

it works!  too well, in fact.  i spent a wee bit too much of my lunch hour admiring the way the sun shines through to the backside when you’re cozied up underneath it.  it was the perfect weather for trying out a quilt–sunny, but surprisingly chilly.

i haven’t yet washed it, and i haven’t made the bag that the quilt will get stored in in the car (that’s where your block will go, liz), so you may get to see more pictures of this quilt.  i am so happy with it!  thanks a million, common threads buddies, for helping me to create this beautiful, funky and soon-to-be-very-well-loved-and-frequently-used quilt!