#drunkard's path

Drunkard’s Path Basket Quilt - FINISHED AT LAST AFTER 34 YEARS!

I created the three basket designs in 1984-85 and started to cut and piece the blocks together in 1985. Hand-assembling the rows with plain blocks was delayed many years and completed in 2012, and now with the machine-quilting finished and the binding hand-applied - The Drunkard's Path Baskets Quilt IS DONE!

I still have to go over the entire binding (NOT TODAY!) and check for any string, threads, or basting stitches that show. Tomorrow I may decide to rip out the first corner that just does not 'lay flat enough’ to please me, but after hand-sewing 10.44 yards of homemade bias binding on - my eyes (and right shoulder) need a break.

I am going to enter this in this years Creative Arts competition at The Big E (Eastern States Exposition) - and act that takes a lot of balls to do - this quilt is so lovingly 'traditional' and the competition attracts many of the 'Art Quilt' genre ... we shall see. Last year over 200 quilts were entered - and that is only one aspect of the sewing competitions (I have my two Temari balls just completed entered also).

I do have to thank Tessa Atwood of Hummingbird Hill Quilting in VT for the magnificent job she did of long-arm machine quilting the filler blocks - well worth every cent I spent!

Now to inspect it, cover my name over (it is embroidered on and your name cannot show for the judging), then wrap it up in a sheet to transport on Sept 3rd.

Polarity Quilt: I have been working on a queen-sized version of my Polarity quilt pattern... it’s a long-awaited gift for a special couple..!

Drunkard’s Path blocks: I am working on a project on a deadline this week! The first component of the project I designed is using drunkard’s path blocks to create clamshell shapes in black, white and grey. I’m using Kona cottons in Pepper, Snow and Ash. 

Naive Melody by the Talking Heads has been a favorite song for years. I wanted to make another quilt using the Drunkard's Path alphabet I designed, and this lyric, "Never for money / always for love,"  emerged as a phrase I love enough to put on a quilt. I think of it as an unofficial, cheeky motto for my quilt-making. When you're a quilter, people are constantly asking you if you sell your quilts. And, well, here is my answer.