teaching sewing confidence, tip by tip

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Drunkard's Path Quilt

Bet some of you are wondering if I've ever actually made a quilt - looking over my blog so far it's a bit lacking in finished articles - just the pram quilt to date.  So I've decided to start creating some posts highlighting quilts I made prior to becoming a technical specialist in HTML code blogger.

The first quilt I've chosen to share with you is a Drunkard's Path Quilt. I've no 'how-to' style photos because obviously at that early, naive stage in my quilting life I had no idea I'd ever be a crazy lady who loves to double the time it takes to make a quilt by:
  • stopping to make step by step notes of what she's doing;
  • taking numerous photos of her work at various ridiculous angles;
  • roping the family in to take photos of her hands at work but with strict instructions that they must make sure no-one can see she's still in her pjs while she's quilting - oh and;
  • doing a quick tidy round so the place doesn't look like it's the undusted, unhoovered hovel it's become because she's too busy blogging and quilting!

Fabrics Used:

Top Sheet: Michael Moore's periwinkle Firefly and Alice Kennedy's Marmalade Geometric
Back Sheet & Binding: Dear Stella Design's Confetti Dot Pink
Batting: Quilter's Dream Cotton Request


Handy Tools Used:

That Purple Thang
6" Quick Curves

That Purple Thang by Lynn Graves
An amazing little piece of plastic that you can use to push, poke, pull, thread.  It also has a 1/4" tab on one end which is very handy.  I used the point to crease mark my half way fabric folds on my curves and then to control the fabric all the way to the end of the curve under the machine foot which saved my fingers getting in the way of the needle.


6" Quick Curves Template from Elisa's Backporch Design
These make cutting those curves so easy.


Quilt Details:

Outline Quilting - also known as 1/4" Ditch Quilting and Next to the Ditch Quilting.
Machine bound front binding then hand sewn to back of quilt.


Top Sheet Completed

Completed Quilt - top and backing and detail

Quilting and Binding detail

So this was the first quilt I made that wasn't for my home or a family member or to be a gift and it was my first attempt at curves.  It took me quite some time to decide on a layout for the finished blocks -  and I learnt a lot about using directional fabrics when you're working with curves (basically, it would be a lot easier not to).  If you're interested in seeing other Drunkard's Path designs, I pinned all my favourite 'findings' on a 'Drunkard's Path' blocks board on my Pinterest wall.

I made the quilt as part of an Intermediate Machine Quilting class at my LQS in Manhattan with the fab tutor, Christine Janove.  Christine showed us how to create a Drunkard's Path block in the 1st class and, 7 days later, I turned up at the 2nd class with a finished quilt - which caused quite a stir!  Here I am on the store's facebook photo wall and I was thrilled with the comments others put up there about my quilt - even Christine's the quilt store's comment:

"Too bad there isn't extra credit for overachievers. :-)."

All in all, though, I'm quite pleased with the end result - let me know what you think of it and tell me about your own Drunkard's Path experiences, I'd love to hear from you.

Disclaimer: 
This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

Follow on Bloglovin
   


9 comments:

  1. I love it! The fabric is beautiful and I love the contrasting binding. I was thinking last night to post pics of past quilts I made before my recent return to quilting... Now I think I shall. Thank you for the inspiration. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Go for it! The blogs are great for showing where we're at now but we've all got a story to tell of how we got here, we may be new to blogging but we're not necessarily total novices. It's a shame to let the older stuff pass by unmentioned :)

      Delete
  2. Neat quilt! I love the layout you chose for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - there's so many designs you can make with such a simple block!

      Delete
  3. Not my comment...made by the person who added the photos to the computer/FB page. I love this quilt, and your smiling face. It's always wonderful and rewarding to have students so happy with new knowledge that they go home and have to do it right away!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Christine - I'd assumed it was your comment but it doesn't matter because it always makes me giggle as it's soooo me! I'm in your Sunday class this weekend and looking forward to seeing you again and learning some more :)

      Delete
  4. The Drunkard's Path was one of my mother's favorite patterns and I'm so thankful to have one that she made. Every time I see it I think of her and smile. blessings, marlene

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a wonderful and special keepsake Marlene, thank you for sharing :)

      Delete
  5. A great post to revive and a fun quilt.

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from everyone, thank you for taking the time to read my blog and share your thoughts. Please leave a message to let me know you visited, it's a great way to get to know you all better too :)

Chris Dodsley


Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.