Tree of Life Ready to Quilt

This quick project is ready to quilt.  The centre is a panel by Di Ford and Petra Prins.  The pattern is from her book.  I added an extra pinky-red  border, as I used a different method for producing the half square triangles and mine ended up oversize.  I didn't want to cut them down, so added the extra border.  Maybe, I should learn to follow a pattern, but I do feel the need to wing it most of the time.  The windmill blocks used lots of different reproduction fabrics.  The outer border is tan paisley from Collections for a Cause.

The centre panel and some of the lights were too light for my taste, so I tea dyed the entire top.  The photo below shows the partly pieced top prior to tea dyeing.  The quilt top (above) is slightly darker than shown by the photo.  One day I'll learn how to manually adjust the white balance on my camera. 

 

After all the stitch in the ditch, I will FMQ around the motifs, maybe a couple of echos, then a background fill...not sure what, yet.  I'm not sure how I am going to quilt over the outer border.  I am thinking about adding a facing, instead of binding, around the edge of the quilt.  I'll decide when it is completely quilted.  I am sure I should plan everything meticulously.  I have a habit of doing what I feel like on the day...and I sometimes regret it!