Whooo's the New Baby?

This is a fiercely cute baby quilt one of my clients made.  She always does impeccable applique, all by hand.

I had fun with the white background, since this is the only place the quilting really shows up.  I originally thought about doing something more constructed in the white areas, like wreaths, but quickly realized how boring that would be.  I think the straight line frames and different designs create a nice framework for the owl, and create way more interest.  Perhaps if you double click, you can see the ferns, and leaves and large bubbles/pebbles (nickel sized).

 Here's a close-up of whoooty...He's so cute.  I left him largely unquilted so that there is some loft (and I did not want the piecing from below that she didn't cut away to be so obvious.

 The border is bead-boarded with simple sweet scallops.  It's fitting of a baby boy.

This quilt actually has a poly batt, since it will be washed many times.  Plus, I want the features to maintain their loft and texture.  I used a Wonderfil Master Quilter thread.  This is a relatively new thread for me; I got 15 cones a couple months ago.  It's a 40wt thread, and stitched like a dream with Bottomline in the bobbin.

Here's a peek at the back.  Is that not fun??