Janan

These are great ideas. It is obvious that I am a new quilter, so forgive my ignorance. I never knew to think about minimum quilt distance in batting. The squares are 8 inches and the black sashing is 2 1/2. I don't know how I got 2 1/2 inches, but the error was at least consistent. lol

I like the idea of the Xs on the squares without art. White thread?

I would love to do stippling/bubbles, but I'm afraid my inexperience would really show. I bought the tool to do free motion quilting, though. Should I leave the art pieces alone?

The batting is important. My grandaughter is hot natured and doesn't like heavy blankets. But I'm not going to make that the most important consideration. I thought of just adding flannel in the middle, so it wouldn't be too hot. Then I decided on Warm and Natural. Since I don't have experience with either, I don't know what is best or which would be easier to work with.

Thanks for your help. This quilt is important to me. I would like to to be good quality and something that her grandchildren might fight over one day. She's 13. Isn't her art wonderful?

Also, this was supposed to be a lap quilt. So far, the measurements are 72x54. If I bought more polka dot, I could do a border and make the quilt bigger, or I could leave it the size it is.