Wednesday, December 01, 2010

crop circles

This quilt has taught me a lot. I pieced circles, which was way easier than I thought, thanks my great teacher and neighbor Marcia.
I quilted circles (on solids-doh! what was I thinking?) for the first time, which was a lot harder than I thought. I learned to let go of some of my perfectionist tendencies. Just a little bit.
I so appreciated everyone's comments on this post. It helped me immensely! I was able to objectively see that I was being too hard on myself. The quilting never got ripped out. I went with it, mainly due to the time factor. Someone had commented that I would be able to finish a few more quilts in the time that it would take to rip out the stitching in this one. That did it! This was basically a practice quilt anyway. The bubble in the backing that I was so worried about shrunk quite a bit, thanks to the homespun fabric that I used. What a relief.

After all is said and done, I rather like this little quilt. It measures 41" x 54" after washing.

Happy December to you!

71 comments:

Lisa said...

Oh that came out beautifully! I really love it. Great contrast. Piecing curves isn't too hard right?! I think the quilting came out well too.

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Very classy little quilt there Miss Amanda!

Lee D said...

wonderful! but then again everything you make is wonderful and so inspiring

Jan said...

This is fabulous, like looking down on Kansas!

Leeanne said...

good on you!! What a striking quilt.Large circles are hard to quilt, you did a great job.
Love the plaid backing.

tina said...

Beautiful!! Very, very beautiful!
All your quilts are wonderful.

Suzanne said...

It's encouraging to watch you quilt and to know that you have an inner voice similar to mine. I can really appreciate your process and enjoy your product, even if I can't feel it when I reach out and touch my computer screen.

quiltercaroline said...

I love the quilt - it is spectacular! I have a circle quilt on my list of things I want to do 'some day'. Yours is true inspiration. Well done. Caroline

Spice said...

I love this quilt. It's got a modern flare which is very nice.

Quilter Mom of 3 said...

I am LOVING how this one turned out!!


Could you PLEASE post a tutorial on how to piece circles like these???

Thanks!!

Karen said...

What a great look!!! Love that size. Did you plan out the color placement or just as you finished the blocks? Great job.

Anonymous said...

When I first saw this quilt, I had to put it on my 'list to do'. I'm glad that you could 'let it go' and not spend all winter ripping out the quilting. It was a wise person who reminded you of all the other projects you would be missing out if you spent all that time ripping out those stitches.
Thanks for sharing.
cindy

Heidi said...

LOVE IT! You did a great job. I've made circles before for one of my quilting bee buddies. I was nervous and then amazed because they weren't as hard as I had made myself believe they were.

Caryn Allen said...

Oh I love it!! It turned out wonderful! I just finished a tessellating quilt and had the same thoughts about ripping the whole thing a part. My husband convinced me to keep going and it turned out amazing. Yay!

Kristine said...

I love it! If you ever have time, sharing how you did the piecing would be awesome. :)

Anonymous said...

Your quilt is awesome! Love it!!!!

Betty said...

What this quilt has proven is that a learning curve can also be a circle!

Betty said...

What this quilt has proven is that a learning curve can also be a circle!

Amy said...

very nice.

NorahS said...

I really like it, too. Very organic looking. I'm glad you didn't give up on it. It almost makes me want to piece circles. Almost.

Char said...

I like this quilt. Clean and simple. Very nice!

Kris said...

You always piece everything so perfectly. It kinda bugs me. ;)

I just finished a play quilt for my toddler son, and *everything* on it went wonky. The rows, the columns, the backing, the binding. Even my no-fail stitch-in-the-ditch quilting. I almost threw it away; but now that it's done and he plays under it every day, it's one of my favorites. Warts, er, puckers and all.

Why are we so hard on ourselves anyway?????

Anne said...

I almost never comment on blogs, but this quilt is one of the nicest ones I've seen on your site or anywhere else! The colours, composition, and fabrics combine to give a calm and muted feeling that is very attractive. So glad you didn't rip out the quilting since it looks lovely.

Michele said...

I'm glad you didn't rip it out. It looks great! I've heard that if you can't see it if you are riding by on a galloping horse, don't worry about it, but that is hard to do! I wish I could let more imperfections in my quilting go! I would get a lot more done that way :) Congrats on finishing it!!

meli B said...

It's beautiful

Leslie said...

this quilt is lovely it reminds me so much of a quilt i made a while back to celebrate our farm CSA....
http://leslie-fluffnonsense.blogspot.com/2009/05/farm-quiltfinally.html

i did mine in strips and then hand quilted in circles.

JG said...

Your quilt looks so nice!

Ripping out is not a fun thing - so time consuming... I usually reinforce seams when sewing clothing, so I really do not like to take out the stitching. :) ~JG

Sarah Craig said...

I love this quilt! I really need to learn to piece circles, but until I do, I'm just going to come back and look at this one occasionally!

Lucky Duck Dreams said...

Wow it looks even better then when You first shared your dilema! Its so great to have a community of quilters you can rely on to share their opinions and expertise. Its on my list!

Karen said...

Amazing little quilt! Love everything about it!

Jan said...

What doesn't "quilt out" will be taken care of in the wash!
This quilt inspires me to try circles myself.

Cindy H. said...

It looks wonderful - just like everything else you've done!

Angie said...

Very Beautiful !! I like the color combination and the quilting is beautifil.

Barbara said...

absolutely stunning in its simplicity !

Anonymous said...

Now aren't you glad you didn't pull the quilting out? It is so pretty! I don't see any mistakes! That is one sweet quilt! Keep up the good work and THANK YOU for blogging and allowing us to share your "quilting bee"!

Stephanie said...

AJ-
I must ditto everything everyone has said so far. This quilt is just stunning!

pam said...

I really like this. I might just have to try this.
I really need to practice on my machine quilting. I just can't seem to get it.

Thimbleanna said...

Wow! That's a stunning quilt. What an eye-grabber -- it looks fantastic on your sofa!

debra lynn said...

It's beautiful. Thank you for letting go of the perfectionist in you! I've been on a kick to try to get everyone, including myself to let go a bit. With all we do as crafters, bakers, cooks, moms, and trying to be perfect on top it all we set ourselves up for failure sometimes, it seems. Love the circles and the colors!!

Tara said...

It rocks. It's useful. And many farmers would tell you that you're not utilizing enough ground. But you knew that already--you weren't farming--you were quilting!! Me--
Need to quilt--5 pairs of pj pants(achingly cute!) and shirts are done and I need some ME sewing!!!!

Joan said...

Love that quilt - I too would like to know how you coped with the circles.

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

Well, there you go. And see, it's gorgeous!

Ruthie said...

I think it's BEAUTIFUL!!

Peris said...

Love it and would love to know where to find this pattern...I love it!!!!and the solids are so perfect....

Anonymous said...

Verde (Green) Beauty!
Brenda C.
Texas

JHNickodemus said...

Impressive!

AnnieO said...

So glad you shut down that perfectionist nag and went with the flow! The little quilt is charming and lively.

black bear cabin said...

its gorgeous...i love it! :)

Anonymous said...

love it, loved it from the get go when you first showed it. but I DO want to know HOW you pieced the circles. what is this easy method you learned? do tell.

John'aLee said...

What a fun and interesting quilt! Good work!

Kankanka said...

Wonderful military colors! Beautiful!!!

Jessica said...

Great! the solids are so pleasing!

April (Polkadot Sparrow) said...

Wow. That's a sharp quilt! I want to make my brother a pillow with similar colors and it's fun to see how it'll look in real life! :)

Way to be brave and not tear out stitches. I have to force myself to do that a lot. It's worked out so far.

Live a Colorful Life said...

Everything about this quilt is impressive. I love the combination of the quilted circles and the stippling. And the colors. I'm saving my air miles to fly you out here to give me a machine quilting lesson!

P.S. my word verification: "flytomoz". I don't know that "moz" is. I think it means "fly to me" in French slang or something. :)

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

It is a very cool quilt. I'm glad you finished it.

Bee said...

I love this quilt! Love it! It inspires me to give something like this a try...after all the ga-zillion other quilts I want to give a try - hee hee!

carol said...

See......how long have I told you that circles were easy? Maybe you'll learn to listen to your elders. LOL

Lisa said...

That turned out beautiful, we just moved to a farm so it's very fitting! I'd like to try this using up scraps, how do I make a pattern?

blimunda said...

Very elegant!!
Great work, I love the color combination and the 'solids-only' option!

Barbara

Trudi said...

We all have something to learn from every quilt we each make, how eloquently you acknowledge these lessons, oh, and how beautifully it turned out! :)

Sara said...

I love it - it is a beautiful quilt...

Esch House Quilts said...

It is a wonderful quilt - I love the colors. It looks great on your couch too!

Sunshine said...

Have you told us yet what Marcia's great tips for piecing circles were? I've been trying to find that, but no luck. I'm in desperate need of some fantastic circle tips!
Thanks!

veerle said...

I really love this quilt! Fantastic!

Anonymous said...

I think you did a great job on the quilting! And I love the solid colors. Can you tell me what size the the square is (the square with the 1/4 of the circle in it)?

Thanks!

Amanda Jean said...

territhegirl,

i believe that 1/4 of the circle block finishes at 7".

aj

Solveig Bloch said...

Wow, love this! Nice blog to ;o)

Viviane said...

c'est magnifique, congratulations !

Teresa said...

Love the quilt! I was reading your blog when you were getting started on it and wasn't sure if I would like it, but I am in love with it now! It is very manly and modern!

Emily said...

Gorgeous! Love the circles. :)

BĂ©ra said...

So glad, I like so much your quilting and colours. I think that these colours will inspired my futur patch. I like so much your site.
Thanks a lot
BĂ©atrice
Dijon
France