Saturday, May 19, 2012

Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Meet Broken Records


So one day I'm catching up on the old Fons and Porter shows I dvr, and I come across this one where a circular embroidery attachment is used to sew decorative stitches onto squares of fabrics, which are then cut using a Drunkard's Path template. I was intrigued.


So I went out and bought myself some fabric, a circular embroidery attachment for my Bernina, and some slick shiny thread, and set to creating my own version of their 'Drunkard's Path With a Twist'.


Needless to say, it was not an easy undertaking. Nor was it something that was stitched quickly. Oh nosiree. Those decorative stitches take forever to lay down, and of course, I had to select some of the more stitch intense patterns. But eventually, the squares were done and ready for cutting.


I blogged quite a bit during the process of making this quilt, and I have to say, I was glad to see it done. And I also have to say that it will be a long, long time before I think about doing one of these again.


While I had grand designs for the machine quilting, it didn't exactly work out as I wanted, and those arcs of stitching that fill in the wedges or carry across the print, aren't the straightest pattern to stitch freehand, but it is what it is.


I probably ripped out more thread in quilting this than wound up in the finished quilt.


 This is one of those quilts that falls into the 'finished is way better than perfect' category, that's for sure.


It's called 'broken records' because in the interest of aging myself, once I stood back and looked at it on the design wall, I really felt those wedges looked like quartered LPs (for you youngers out there, I'm referring to vinyl...record albums---played with a needle on a turntable....pre-computer music...). Then again, I probably broke a lot of my own personal records for how long this took to finish, so we could also spin it's name in that direction.

At any rate, I'm already thinking about my next personal challenge, and it while it doesn't involve any decorative stitching, it does involve cutting thousands of pieces, all of which are 'circular'. Somebody stop me.

Enjoy the rest of the quilt show. There are some lovely quilts on all the blogs, and stop by Amy's blog and be sure to thank her for putting this little quilt show together.

And, if you're reading this on Saturday night....Mick Jagger's hosting SNL tonight. You know where I'll be.

10 comments:

  1. Time consuming yes - but look at how beautiful it turned out! It is absolutely gorgeous. I love the play on words in the name.

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  2. This is really pretty - I love how the circular embroidery turned out! It makes it look like there is a third piece of fabric in each block...

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  3. Beautiful detail with the intricate embroidery. I love the way the you laid out the Drunkard's path.

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  4. I love how this turned out. I remember when you were making it - you had so many difficulties and doubts along the way, but woww, wasn't it worth finishing.

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  5. great quilt!
    Check out my blog if you can...

    Margaret Gunn
    www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

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  6. Your quilt turned out wonderful and the Broken Records is perfect.

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  7. Your quilt is gorgeous! Well worth the time and effort you put into it! I also saw that same Fons & Porter show and promptly bought a vintage Singer circular stitcher that I 'hope' will work on my 1960s Singer 401A. It has more limited stitches than your Bernina but I'm envisioning some relaxing(?) hours stitching in circles. That is, after all the wedding and grandbaby quilts are completed and out the door ...

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  8. I do just love this quilt and you keep me inspired to keep this design in my back cupboard to do one day.

    Your finish is beautiful and the quilting of it awesome!

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  9. I actually like the Drunkard's Path look and this is a great project on it. I loved "finished is better than perfect"...oh yes!

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  10. I can see the broken records. I know what you mean about being glad to have this one behind you. At least it turned out great and I am sure you are the only one who will any flaws in it. Because I couldn't see them even when you tried to point them out. Great quilt!

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I appreciate and look forward to your comments. Thanks for reading. Happy quilting!