Bars and Stripes...Top Pieced

I finally was able to piece together my bars and stripes panels for my first bed quilt in about 10 years.
This was more straight seam sewing than I can remember doing all at one time!

I used a lot of trim in this quilt...I can't ignore the possibilities for texture in any project, even bed quilts.

The rick rack is from Moda and the velvet ribbon/gimp is from Simplicity...

Kerry Murphy kindly sent me the velvet pink ribbon that is behind the wide lace on the right; both laces got a dunking in potassium permanganate to give them that light gold tint...and the jacquard woven ribbon is from Simplicity, too (JoAnn's.)

I can't get a complete overall shot because my design wall space isn't large enough!
But here's how it looks up there now. (Ignore the mess in the foreground.)

You can see I didn't quite have enough of the wide lace so I just patched in some others. Crazy quilts are not about perfection! If this was in a competition it would matter, but on my bed it sure won't.

I bought some really pretty hand-dyed perle cotton from Art Fabrik at Festival and I am just wondering if I can get my Juki to quilt with it. I was told a large eyed jeans or topstitch needle can handle it, if I go slowly.
I decided to quilt this onto a fleece blanket, avoiding the batting/backing sandwich ordeal. Besides, I love quilts that are smooth on the top and cozy on the back. That's what is up next....