Celtic Leo

My quilt is not original like all the others posted before me. Instead, I had found this design in one of the Celtic Designs listed in the Dover Publications that caught my attention because my husband's birth sign is Leo. I have really made this for him as well as our challenge, since his birthday is coming up in August. I drew the images onto freezer paper and made templates for creating the dozens of applique pieces. My biggest struggle was deciding how to twist and weave all the pieces together. Once I had all that figured out, I realized that the only way to get the background quilted in detail was to quilt it first - no way was I going to quilt around all the small spaces. After appliqueing the lions and initials, I heard the quilt screaming for some color in the border. Using Ricky Tims' piped binding method, I tried a new one using two colors of piping rather than one. I think it works but I will let you decide. At least I did a lot more quilting in this one, not like my Art Deco piece. Thanking you in advance for any comments and suggestions. Sandi