A Wolf Quilt

Hmm remember how I said that I should have started this blog much earlier, so I could post finished projects? This is one of those "catch up" posts --- only fair to give this quilt its due, since I finished it only a few days before starting to blog.

This was inspired by the Deer Quilt I was making at the time --- my boyfriends father is a deer admirer. It so happens that Cranston makes a similar panel in their wildlife collection with wolves --- and that my boyfriends mother is a wolf admirer. Since they have separate bedrooms due to a snoring issue, I have always intended to make them each a bed quilt. My man helped me search high and low for this elusive fabric, so that his parents could have this matching set.

When I went to the drawing board I decided to alternate the panels with a basic bear paw block .. and for the purpose of this quilt I of course mentally renamed it "wolf paw". And then the fun began!

Left: Here we are with the top laid out on my basting floor a.k.a basement floor, ready to get on our hands and knees and pin pin pin

Right: Remember Helpful Cat? He made several star appearances during the making of this quilt. OF COURSE I couldn't have done it without him ...

And (above) the finished product! My bed seems to be the 'model' for all my quilts, partly because it is the best lit area to take pictures of quilts ... but I was stunned by how good this quilt looked on my bed! I gave it to his mother right away, so I couldn't get any more attached to it :D

My favorite part of the whole quilt? The quilting designs in the wolf paw blocks!

No more Deer Quilt!!! .. Oh, Wait

After all those nasty little difficulties popped up (for no reason!) during the making of this quilt, oh man was I glad to have it finished! Is it bad blogging form to admit that I was somewhat disappointed in myself? I think the finished product did come out lovely, but that I am capable of a much much better job. Oh, the things I learned ...

Above: Bindings, borders, Bambi, Oh my!

 
Left: The finished quilt, and my two "helpers" attempting to hold it out straight in the wind so it doesn't look wrinkled.


Bottom: A peek at the lovely luscious feathers twisting through the border.

And the most exciting news of all? It looks like this silly project that has caused me so much anguish is a hit with friends and family! In fact I have already been asked if I can make another one to sell & be given as a birthday gift .. hooray! My first quilt for profit / commission!

Not working as intended ..

The deer quilt --- is giving me a headache. I can't decide if what I am doing in terms of quilting and thread colour is going to come out looking stunning -- or a miserable mishmash of FMQ gone overboard and busy panels made even busier.

I like the starburst idea, I like the trapunto effect of the deer, I love doing the intricate tiny stitching ... but aaaaaahhhhhhhhh what am I doing? Am I creating a masterpiece, or a lot of stitch ripping work to do?


Sadly it seems that when I have these feelings, I'm right. So the niggling feeling that this is going to look horrible needs to be solved.

Options:
Continue with white thread (tan in the sky sections)
Use dark brown thread (leaning in this direction)
Run from this project screaming that it can't be done
Unpick everything (3 fully finished 14 inch blocks + 17 starbursts) and come up with a new idea.

This has just not been a good week for sewing.