Quilting the quilt

The second quilt in a series benefits from the experience of making the first. I had to hand quilt the first matchstick piece, because I couldn't see stitching over the matchsticks, since it would ruin the effect.
For this second piece, I decided to quilt the background first, after I enveloped the entire composition, and that worked out just fine. First I added a few more pieces to the bottom of the composition, and then fused the whole top to the batting. I found some nice Marimekko fabric for the backing and pillowcased the quilt.
The quilting is first done in the ditch between the panels ( see the background picture below, in Sunday's post) and then I decided where the moons would be and stitched circles for those, and finished with a few radiating lines criss-crossing the whole of the quilt. I spent the rest of yesterday adding fabric matchsticks to the first two columns on the piece. As I apply the matchsticks, I am carefully covering up the quilting stitches. Don't worry, they show on the back side.
Truthfully I wish I didn't need to ever quilt my tops. They look so perfect when they are completed and freshly pressed. Unfortunately they can't stay nice like that and certainly can't travel or be shown without some sort of support. So I quilt them.
I am meeting my friend Ann Lullie for coffee today at Panera so I must hop in the shower and get going.