Friday 9 May 2014

Friday Finish: Bachelors Walk (my first Modern Quilt design!)

A Friday Finish at long last!  I'm so delighted to share these photos of Bachelors Walk finally Quilted, Bound, Washed and Crinkled!


I was a little nervous sticking it in the washing machine so I threw in three colour catchers.  Just in case!  Then a spin in the dryer, watching the timer, waiting for zero to flash, keeping my fingers crossed  that some of the pleats, I made during quilting, would shrink up and disappear into the never never.  I'm left with one small area of pleated badness but I'm living with it! 


When I asked our Thursday night sewing group how to get rid of pleats I got lots of advice from quilt more, it will come out in the wash, to rip it and redo.  Quilting densely around it helped as when the quilt did its shrinking crinkly thing it reduced the look of the one that was driving me mad.  A few did disappear completely and I'm happy to say I can move onto adding the hanging sleeve without having to go back and rip!


I don't know if you can tell but I'm thrilled to bits with this one and would like to thank all the ladies from our Thursday group for their advice and Claire in particular for helping with the design!


My original idea for this back in January when I was buying fabric was an 80" quilt made up of 4 giant blocks.  I  wanted an edge to edge design.  Well I didn't buy enough fabric and my blocks became a 40" quilt (kinda small!) so I put on a 10" border.

Explaining that I had lost the edge to edge with the border Claire suggested I extend the blue lines into the border.  Genius idea, totally makes the quilt!

Charly taking the opportunity to get my attention to throw the ball!
Thanks also to the advice from you guys on quilting the top.  I had a panicky moment of I'm going to ruin this thing but getting stuck in and the feedback really helped me move on and now its finished!


As you can tell the Irish weather is not the best today!  I hope to take better photos and write this one up as a pattern over the next few weeks.  If anyone is interested in pattern testing please let me know!

I'll be having a giveaway (first ever!) on the blog on Monday 12th May for Sew Mama Sew giveaway party so if you fancy a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of 10 pieces of low volume fabric from Westwood Acres check back here and visit Sew Mama Sew to see what other bloggers are giving away!


But for now it's happy dance time so linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and
And as this is one of my Finish-A-Long goals to the Littlest Thistle!
Finish Along 2014

21 comments:

  1. It is lovely! I love the blue (I love blue) and the blocks are really nice. Simple pattern but very effective. Would also be great for a wall hanging.

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  2. I love the pattern! How the blocks extend to the outer edge just makes the quilt.

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  3. This is really really stunning! I love the extended blue lines. It really makes the quilt for me! :)

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  4. I really like this! It came out great. Now I'm thinking that I need to wash the quilt I am giving tomorrow as a birthday gift... Charly is adorable!

    Pugs and kisses,
    Nancy, Romeo, Elvis and LarryPug

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  5. Absolutely love this!! Beautifully done, the design changes during the process were spot on!! :) Love it when that happens!

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  6. Love this - one of my favorites so far for today! Even the ball matches the quilt! :)

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  7. I love how the quilt looked edge-to-edge, but boy, do those extended lines add punch! GREAT quilt! Love the colors!

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  8. Happy dance indeed! It turned out beautifully, Ruth! Woo hoo! Love this design!

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  9. Looks fantastic! Super job - I love the way you extended the light blue into the dark border, it adds a point of interest.

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  10. Looks deadly hanging up...especially the way the wind blew to show off the back!
    Changed the no reply blogger thing, so hopefully you can mail now

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  11. Wow. Just spiffy! I love the design and in this case, you got some great advice. Extending the blue lines was brilliant. Thanks for showing how it all came about. I love to see how you started with one simple idea and how things developed and changed. Beautiful job on the quilting, Ruth. No one but you will ever be able to see what you count as imperfections. Well done, my friend!

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  12. Beautiful. I am curious, did you stitch in the ditch for "every" seam?

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  13. The blue lines extended into the edge are genius! Congrats on the finish.

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  14. Wowza! It's a stunner, R. Absolutely brilliant.

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  15. I'm doing a happy dance for you! This quilt is fantastic and thank you for sharing the "how to hide the pleats" tips ... I think I need them lol :)

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  16. This is so cool. I. LOVE. IT! A novel idea, so clever and masculine, but still real pretty. Love the simplicity of it. I'm glad I stopped by. I found you via Richard and Tanya's Finish Friday link up. Have a yummy, scrappy week filled with lots of sewing time.

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  17. What an excellent design. I love how the blocks extend into the borders.

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  18. Congrats on the fabulous finish! Your quilt brings to mind a modern Celtic knot. Must be the woven effect...or maybe it's because I know you're Irish and it's the power of suggestion! Whatever the case, it's very effective.

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  19. Congratulations for the finish! Love the block design. Thats a lot of quilting you put on the border. Nice colour chioce!!!

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  20. Wonderful design and definitely a modern spin on tradition.

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  21. Wow your design looks great and the colors are wonderful!

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