Saturday, September 8, 2012

Sew and Tell Friday: Drunken Dragons Bed Quilt


So, have you met Amy Lou Who?  This mother, blogger, former school teacher, and creative quilter came up with the bright idea of hosting a Show-and-Tell sewing party on her blog each Friday, inviting others to link up and share sewing projects they had completed during the week.  If you click over to Amy's blog (and I hope you will!), you'll find links to all kinds of cool sewing projects that others have made, everthing from quilts to purses to clothing, and everything in between.  The idea is to motivate one another to follow through and finish projects, to connect with and encourage others who share our creative passions, and of course it's a great source of inspiration for future projects. 

I've been lurking in the background of these Sew and Tell Friday parties for months now without participating -- because I was never finished with anything until now!  So, here it is, folks: Eleven long months after I cut into the first piece of fabric, my Drunken Dragons quilt for my 11-year-old son is finally finished.  If you are a newcomer and are interested in reading any of the long, tedious posts about this quilt that I've been boring my regular readers with for the last year, you can find them all by clicking here.

"Drunken Dragons" Quilt, 66" x 97"
 
My son had been asking for a new bed quilt for over a year when I found a couple of cool Asian dragon fabrics that met with his approval.  The 66" x 97" finished quilt (the quilt top measured 70" x 105" prior to quilting and washing) is comprised of 7" drunkard's path blocks, and some of my early attempts at curved piecing and free-motion quilting were so bad that it looked like the work of a drunkard quilter -- hence the "Drunken Dragons" title for the finished piece.


I quilted a horizontal and vertical grid at the seamlines with my walking foot, used the embroidery module on my sewing machine to quilt a perfect decorative motif in the center of each of the pieced circles, and then I filled in everything else with hours and hours of free-motion squiggles and paisley fills.  The Scrabble label on the back of the quilt was appliqued prior to layering and I quilted right through it.  Here's the quilt on my son's bed at last:


Ta da!  Thanks for letting me share, Amy!

6/28/2016: I'm linking this post up with Archives Tuesday at Val's Quilting Studio.  The theme this week is Four Patch Quilts and my blocks do have a 4x4 grid even if they aren't just squares -- I hope that's okay!  :-)

9 comments:

maria said...

Absolutely stunning. Love it.

Terri said...

My favorite pattern and gorgeous colors! You have made a beautiful quilt.
Hugs

Kati from Kati's Quilting said...

It is a wonderful looking quilt! I love your fabric choices and curved piecing is my favorite looking technique, I love the geometric look. Well done! I'm with you with the lurking in the background thing, I'm not a fast finisher either :) My last finish was in the WIP pile for 6 years. Yes!

Dayna said...

This quilt is seriously amazing! Your son must be just tickled with it! The Scrabble label is marvelous. Truly.

Kristen said...

Stunning bedroom for a little boy! The quilt looks wonderful!

Ivory Spring said...

I do so love that quilt!

Joann Mannix said...

Oh. My.

That's just incredible. Truly. I cannot quilt. And if I'm being really honest, I can't even sew a button. The few times I tried, I ended up crying.

But that doesn't mean I don't know and appreciate the work and detail that went went into that quilt. My mother-in-law quilted and I used to watch her, amazed at her fierce skills and the beautiful things she created.

That is one beautiful quilt and the scrabble love message is fabulous.

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Oh I can see why this one is a favorite. Thank you for showing it in it's final home. Love that your little guy will be using it!!!

France Nadeau ❅ inspiration imagination creation said...

Your quilt is spectacular! I love it. So many colors, but well coordinated.
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