My 14th Quilt: "Doodle Whack"

Whoops - it looks like I forgot to share the celebration that Quilt #14 "Doodle Whack" is officially done!

Although I didn't have a pattern, this was based off a picture I found (on Pinterest, where else) of this Little Apples Quilt by Aneela Hoey. I thought it was straight forward enough in appearance that I could try something very similar without the pattern. (Also, I didn't find a link that went to the pattern until just now, guess I should have looked a little harder!) I will say, I thought I was being very careful to cut off the same size corners from each piece, but I wound up with a surprising amount of variation. That upset me, but that's probably what I deserve for trying to wing it!

The fabric was a layer cake of Noteworthy that I picked up in December. The top came together very quickly (stack and whack kind of tops seem to), but then I let it sit and stagnate for months while I struggled to pick a material for the back, struggled to find the time to baste it, and then put off quilting. All of which was silly, because now that it's done I've been using it almost every day - despite the temperatures being in the 70's and 80's.

I had intended to quilt this with a pre-set fancy stitch on my Janome, but the feed dogs are still giving me trouble, so eventually I convinced myself to go with diagonal lines - and I'm so glad that I did. I really think the fancy stitch I had in mind would have been too much (although it would have matched one of the prints). Turns out I absolutely love the squares/diamonds the intersecting diagonal lines created - and it isn't too much for the busy prints on either the top or back of the quilt.

Pre-washing close up

It's backed and bound in some yardage I had in my stash. My one regret, as I've said before, is that I wasn't careful enough when sewing the yardage together and the repeating pattern doesn't match up like it ought to. But by the time I realized my error, I was not willing to go back and fix it!

Post-wash close up

I can't say I noticed any major difference in size between the pre-wash and post-wash sizes. Nor did I see any color bleeds (whew! The bold pink/red pieces had me a little worried for the creams and whites).

Post-Wash, but in the sun, wrong choice... 

While I love the Noteworthy collection (this is my third quilt using this fabric line), I do not have the skill to photograph it well. I've really struggled to get a picture of any of the three quilts that really represented the colors and patterns.

As usual, I'm utterly smitten with my new finish. And while I've been cuddling with it enough that I figure I should keep it, this is one of my first finishes where I really feel like I could attempt to sell it if I wanted. Sure, it isn't perfect, but this one just feels like something other people might like too, without being so personal or so imperfect that I couldn't possibly part with it.

My family and friends are pushing me to try turning this hobby into a small business. I'm reluctant for a number of reasons, but having finishes that I feel are good enough helps me feel like it might be a possibility in the future. I still think I've got a lot of learning to go through first - and I would need to get better about tracking the kinds of hours that go into making these things - but it does boost my self esteem a bit to have a few finishes under my belt that are quality I would consider attempting to sell.