Monday, June 7, 2010

The Bohemian Fraternal Twins




I know there has been a lot of build up in revealing these two finished quilts to you - and thank you to all of you who have had to listen to all my moans and groans during this creative process! I am grateful to have received so much help and inspiration from all of my blog and flickr pals. They've been pretty much finished for awhile now but I needed some decent weather to take some photos to show you.

I'm still not happy with the pictures I took of the Drunken Bohemian, but here you go. It is definitely a wild and crazy quilt, but I think it is so much prettier and the colors are not as aggressive in real life. After all the hair pulling and headaches this one caused (see this post), I am thrilled with the end result.


My original plan for the quilting was an all-over stippling with spirals in all the full circles. Well, let's just say my free motion skills are not quite up to par yet to make perfect swirls. After the whole thing was done I ended up ripping out all the spirals (I'm really spending a lot of time with that seam ripper lately!) and decided to try my first hand quilting. I love the look of the stippling with the thicker texture of the hand quilted circles!



I sort of cheated for this post, as the hand quilting is going a little slowly, and I still need to finish a few of the outer circles. I bound the quilt with my favorite print of the Bohemian collection, chocolate brown with colorful paisleys.


The New Wave Bohemian came into being when I fell in love with Elizabeth's New Wave pattern, and decided to try for a double sided quilt. As it ended up, my measurements were off and backing the drunkard's path top with it would've resulted in either the front or the back being cut too short. So, two quilts were born.



This quilt has been gifted to our dear friends whose wedding we attended in Mexico last month. I was sad to see it go but I think they really love it so that makes me happy. To ensure that I would be able to part with it, I embroidered their name and wedding date and place on the back.
The sashing and backing are Kona cream which coordinates with the lighter prints. I did a simple line quilting to keep this one soft and cozy for the newly weds.


Here is the back of the Drunken Bohemian - just big leftover squares. I wasn't sure about this at first but now I love it.


And here are the twins in there last photo before being separated!


It feels good to have these all done. Now time to move on to the million other projects I have going!

15 comments:

  1. They both turned out beautiful! So glad you stayed the course with the drunken one, it's fantastic! Love the hand quilting :)

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  2. lovely twins, just lovely!! I LOVE the circle one!! So vibrant!

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  3. I love, love these two! I found your blog while flipping through flickr looking at Anna Maria Horner quilts. These are just stunning. I am not confident in my stippling yet on larger quilts, so I love how you did the hand quilting in the round. The wave is such a great pattern - I have yet to try something with it, but AMH fabrics look great in it. Way to go - you should be proud!

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  4. Well done! The both look fantastic x

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  5. These are very, very awesome quilts. I love the fabrics and think that having twins instead of a double sided quilt is the best choice anyway, especially when you can bless your friends so generously. Great job. Congratulations!

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  6. Oh they both look just lovely! Congrats on finishing them both up!!! =D

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  7. They are both amazing - LOVE the hand quilting! All the work was well worth it. Great job. :)

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  8. These look GREAT...after combing many books I think I'm going to try a spiderweb mini quilt using kona charcoal with the scraps I won from you... now just to find the time!

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  9. The Drunken Bohemian is wonderful - I love its rich color and all the quilting. And the New Wave is a pattern I'm dying to try - I've just got to get some spare time!! Your rendition is great - I can't wait to give it a try myself!

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  10. The colors are great. I totally love the drunken bohemian. I guess I need to add yet another to my 'wanna be' list. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  11. Dear Megan, I am not a quilter, yet your drunken bohemian might just change that. I landed on your sight via Anna Maria Horner's blog comment list and I couldn't be more pleased. The location of the light blue fabric in the drunken bohemian quilt made my eye travel all over the surface of it. The location of the light blue could not have been better. Do you know what I am going to do after I post this comment? I am going to go right back to staring at your two fantastic quilts. Whatever tears where shed or seams ripped in the making was TOTALLY worth it.

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  12. they're both absolutely gorgeous megan! love the hand quilting in the circles!

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  13. they are both beautiful, Megan (although I think I may favor the drunken love). I have been sitting on the fence about trying hand quilting and you may have just pushed me over the edge. I adore the way it looks in those circles!!

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  14. You've been featured! Love your blog! ;o) ooxx`jodi www.pleasant-home.com
    Thanks for sharing your wonderful projects!

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  15. wow just the most stunningly beautiful quilts! love them.

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