Well, it is finished (except for binding). My son vetoed my more elaborate border ideas in favor of plain, simple straight lines down the sides, so I just did that, going 1/4" in from each seam (each side of each seam). My quilt mentor says it could have used additional lines in the middles of the wider sections, and probably so, but too bad. Those lines were an absolute bear to do (Lotti, I swear, I think your bear was over here tugging on the quilt while I was doing those parts...). I realized I should have pulled out my little card table to set up alongside my quilting table, to hold the weight of the quilt to the left. I will do that before I put the binding on the front.
But, it's done, and I think it turned out well. I'll take some better photos later, but here it is -- I just did sort of a wind texture in the sky part (Helen Godden calls them "zebra flames"), straight lines inside the infinity sign, and water-ish swirls and loops in the water (like pond ripples). I think it's a little denser than I was going for, and probably I need to work on scale of quilting in the future, but I like it, he likes it, and for being the second quilt I FMQed and the first this big, on my little Janome MC 3500.....I am really, really, really pleased with how it turned out.
Totally original design, and I call it Infinite Horizons. All Cherrywood fabrics on the front. I based it off of the Toy Story quote "To Infinity and Beyond" and also Psalm 139, where it asks "where can I go from your presence?" (answer: no matter where you go, God is there). Sort of a wish and prayer for him as he heads to college and adult life beyond. No longer will I be his protector, guide, etc, but I know Who is, and so I trust him to make his own path from now on.
Now I can get back to my Rows.....I owe June & July yet.....