Chilcotin Wild - a mini quilt

A last minute finish before departing for QuiltCon tomorrow, this mini quilt is a gift for my friend Kristie's new sewing room.  Seriously, I can't get enough of this mini Lonestar Circle (full-size lap quilt pattern by Lynne appears in my book).  The ombre effect with the Cotton and Steel basics is striking as long as you don't stare at it too long. I found that the skinny border helped to reduce the pulsating effect a bit by reining in the points.

The centre seams of this one didn't turn out quite as accurate as my first effort, I think in part due to the fact that I had to fussy cut the horses individually instead of strip piecing them in to the sets (this would make more sense if you had the pattern in front of you).  I think there is enough going on with the horse motifs and quilting to divert any critical examination of seams though, haha.  I'm contemplating making 9 or 16 of these sized blocks for a queen size quilt. Call me crazy but I love making them - it's a bit of a shock considering how intense the piecing and seam matching is after all of the improvisational work I've been doing lately. At this point, it is only a "plan". You are quilters....you know what that means. At any rate, I need to make at least one of these minis to keep as this is one of the projects I'll be teaching on the Alaskan cruise in June!

I quilted with straight lines to define wedge shapes on each side and in each corner.  I then filled the wedge-shaped areas with a free-motion ribbon design that I'm super happy with. All of the thread is 40 wt Auriful in hot pink and aqua.  I just love how the quilting looks on that Essex yarn-dyed linen.

For my 40th birthday (cough,  many years ago), B surprised me with a long weekend trip to British Columbia's Chilcotin region for three days of trail riding at a small dude ranch. We didn't see the famous wild horses of the Nemaiah Valley, but I would love to, one day. This quilt is named for them.

Chilcotin Wild, 22 1/2" x 22 1/2"