Sunday, March 25, 2012

Wonky Quilt

Literally!

I don't know how the "Monk" in me allowed me to make this quilt.  I'll explain how it came about, but I first must post this

WARNING:
What follows may horrify quilters everywhere.
As you read, please keep in mind that I never pay attention to quilting "rules"...never.  Sometimes they make sense, but, mostly not.  I think most "rules" were created prior to the creation of the walking foot.

First of all I needed to make one more "whole cloth" quilt.  And I fell in love with these fabrics. 

I love the colors, the wonky flower blocks and the plaid stripe.  It will be horrifying to some to learn that I found these fabrics at JoAnn's.  They aren't a bad quality but they are printed wonky.  This I didn't see until I set out to cut the top to size.  This was so disappointing.  

Eventually I wondered if I cut the design straight if it would show that the quilt would not be "squared".  Horrifying that I would even consider cutting a quilt out of square, isn't it?!  It's an optical illusion.  The eye is fooled.  Well,  my eye is fooled.


These fabrics are on the narrow side, so my next decision was to not cut off the selvages...more horrification!  They are actually nice and flat.  They don't pull inward on the edges.  And being wacky as I am,  I hoped they would add some curiosity to the quilt.

But now the back.  I hoped with the stripe going up and down that the eye would continue to be fooled.  Nope!  With it being a plaid stripe with lines going vertical and horizontal, it was obvious that I cut the ends at an angle to match the top piece.  Even more disappointment!


And then my boundless determination set in.  I wondered if I could save this quilt by creating an optical illusion on the back to once again fool the eye.  Now I find myself working on the quilt from hell.  And wondering about myself, why do I have to be this way?!!!

The quilt back was about 1/2 an inch narrower than the top.  Why not!  Why should coordinating fabrics be the same width?!  So, a strip of wonky flower blocks was added to extend the width. 


 Now the tricky part.  I stitched flower blocks at various levels along the top and bottom so the eye can't easily follow the stripe/plaid lines, therefore not easily noticing the wonky angle.

I think it worked.  So I sandwiched it and started quilting it.  I'm sure it's horrifying but I started at a bottom corner and worked my way across and up the quilt.  And horror of horrors, I also did not leave much for extra batting or backing behind the front for quilting.  I have found that nothing really moves that much during quilting, so I've stopped wasting so much batting and backing fabric for the quilting stage.


I bound it with the plaid stripe backing fabric.


This is only quilt #5 for me.  Probably because of all the challenges presented by this fabric that I feel I conquered, this is actually my favorite quilt so far.  It's a small lap quilt measuring 42" X 64" but just right for lying around watching TV.  And I am horrifyingly thrilled with it's conniving bit of wonkyness.


I had some wonky flower blocks left over and a chunk of the plaid stripe, so I made this small quiltie.  Now here's the real shocker for me...


...if I made that lap quilt for you, do you think your little doggie would like the quiltie?  Yep, I made her little doggie a matching little quiltie.  I cannot believe I did that!  Really, I cannot believe a made a quilt for a dog!

Well, there you have it...proof that miracles never cease to happen!

Annie

31 comments:

Lesley said...

Annie, you are so clever! I love your rule that you don't follow the rules! Your quilt is truly gorgeous! And you have taken away some of my fear of quilting by machine! What a great way to start my day...with your quilt for inspiration! Thank you...

Ray and Jeanne said...

Annie, you did a wonderful job! I bet you are a master at solving problems in 'real life' too! ~Jeanne

carol said...

Great post! You had me laughing because I can hear the frustration in your explanations. lol Cool thing is though that it turned out awesome and the wonkiness is wonderful! I chuckled when you said you made the dog a quilt too. Who knows, we might turn you into a doggie person yet!!!

Michele said...

You certainly made me chuckle this morning. I think there is absolutley nothing wrong with wonky in any form that you like it. The quilt is cute and I'm sure it will get tons of love.

And rules....sometimes they need to be broken. I'm just saying.

Sherry said...

You have totally convinced me that making something Wonky on a regular basis would be good for all of us. I love what you did with this fun quilt and thanks for making me smile this morning.

Carol Swift said...

Loved this post and the quilt! You had me laughing the whole time I was reading, mostly because I rarely (actually, never) follow a pattern.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh you are so funny!!
two adorable quilts so you can't have done much wrong!!

Rachel said...

Love, love, LOVE it! From ord one to the end. Funny, I can see myself doing something similar (breaking the rules and making it up as I go along)...LOL...Seriously, it looks fantastic!

ellen gets crafty said...

Do whatever works for you - cute quilt, I love the colors!

Анна Шеин said...

Очень красивое одеяло! Такое гармоничное! Приятно смотреть! Так любовалась бы и любовалась...

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

lol....I love the quilt!! and reading your adventure with it. too funny!

Ramona said...

Tenacious! Usually when I run into that many "problems" I scrap it and move on to something less frustrating. Guess I need to take a lesson from you as both quilts are cute. And from some stories I have heard in the past, I think the dog may appreciate the quilt more than some people would! Just sayin....

Mrs.Pickles said...

what a lovely quilt and story :)

sheila 77 said...

Great process post. Looks like you won the battle of the quilt. I like how you beat it by inserting a strip into the back and adding the wonky flowers top and bottom thus making it even better. How often do people turn your quilt round and say they like the back (grrr) but in this case......! I put the Russian comment into Google translate and got it in English. How amazingly clever is that? And I've never lost a sock either.

Karen said...

Awesome use of rule avoidance :)

Michelle said...

What a funny story. I thought "wonky" was the norm now. Mine usually start out straight and end wonky. At least you didn't throw it in a corner and "forget about it". I think's it cute and as long as you like it, who cares!!

Carol said...

I LOVE this quilt. The colors, the wonkiness and the matching dog blankie!!! It has a happy character about it.

And rules...what are they? Create and sew what makes you smile:)

Patti said...

Annie! I think your wonky quilt is fabulous, and the fact that you put so much thought and effort into it, makes is even more so!
Also, how could you NOT make a doggie quilt to go with it! Ha! Great work, you rule breaker!

Grammasheri said...

Keep breakin' them rules, girl! Forge ahead and make things happen...and nudge us all out of our comfort zones!
The quilt looks soft and snuggly and happy and pretty. What more could you want in a quilt? If anyone says anything about its wonkiness, raise an eyebrow and reply "I OFTEN incorporate asymmetry in my quilts". Then smile pityingly and walk away. :D

Sparky said...

well wonky or not, I think I like this...your creativity is certainly in abundance..way to go

Snoodles said...

Haha! Yes, it is true, miracles never cease to happen - we just have to have our eyes open....what an eye opener your post is this morning, as I sit here with my cuppa java in hand. Love your quilt and quiltie, and all the brilliant (dare I say touches of genius?) ways that you creatively fooled our eyes. Hey, I am not one for the rules, either, so we are definitely in the same clubhouse (should we start inviting other members? LOL) on that issue. Love, love this project - thanks for sharing how you progressed through it!

Judy D in WA said...

I didn't know being wonky was wrong. Hmm I love your quilt--front and back! Lucky pup gets a fabulous quilt too! You did good!

Laine said...

I love your quilts and how they are wonky. You are so creative.

Dogwood Lane Rambles said...

Love how you made it work and as far as I know the quilt police are on spring break so no worries. My motto is "a man on horse back can't tell the difference" and that's what I stick with! Seriously, I sometimes horrify my friends. Thanks for the happy start to my day.

Manda said...

I was thinking today of making a quilt for my cat :).

CrafterBerly said...

Your rule breaker quilt came out so great! I think it's wonderful, and really, when it's in use, no one notices such things. Keep having fun and breaking the rules. The results are lovely.

waggonswest said...

It is a wonderful quilt and a story that is all too familiar... square it up and come up short or be crooked. No more embarrass the wonky, from now on my motto will be EMBRACE THE WONKY 'cause Annie said so!

waggonswest said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Beautiful job! LOVE the colors and i adore the quilt! AWESOME and thanks for sharing!

Carol said...

I think it is very cute! I buy lots of fabric at JoAnn's. The ladies in our quilt guild say that if you can't see it from a galloping horse, it looks great! Your problem solving is to be admired. I would have just not worried about the crookedness. This inspires me to be more creative in my non-conformist fabric, and my mistakes.

Jo C. said...

Love your quilt! Uh...i made quilts for my dog and cat. They each have their own!