Drunkards Path Circle Quilt

I happily have a finished quilt!  I had to let it sit for a while until I had the basic plan which means very little in my world of quilting as my ideas seem to change practically before I thread my machine!

52" x 64"

Right off the bat I'm going to say this was a super difficult quilt to photograph!  Between the gray and the neon, I wasn't able to achieve an accurate photo.  I don't have proper lighting either from the sun or alternative lamps.  I did my best considering what I had to work with!

Once all the blocks were pieced I arranged them in a layout that I thought worked.  The top went together quite fast.  Each block ended up being 9.5" and for the most part they all lined up pretty well.  

The Drunkard Path blocks went together without too much trouble.  For the most part they all formed circles!

My quilting plan was to keep it simple.  And like I said as soon as the machine was threaded...I had another idea that would involve a bit more work, but worth it in the end I think!  With the exception of the six (6) neon and gray circles, I basically quilted pie slices throughout the quilt.

These blocks got the 'special' treatment!  I stitched in the ditch around the circle and then quilted a star/compass in each one.  I knew it would take extra muscle and work, but in the end I think it was totally worth it.  By the time I finished quilting there were quite a few threads that needed to be buried!

I used Kona Bone for the backing which seemed to work even with gray as the background on the front.  

Let's talk about the border!  I felt I needed to increase the overall size of the quilt so I choose to add a border.  It ended up being three (3) rounds.  The first was a 1 1/4" (finished) strip.  Next I decided to go wild and add more neon!  That round ended up being 3/4" (finished) and accentuates two of the corners.  The width of the neon pink circle determined why I went with such a thin border piece.  And finally I finished it off with a 2" (finished) border on the sides and a 3 1/4" (finished) border on the top and bottom.

The concern I had with adding three borders was that it might become wonky.  For some reason it stayed straight and the quilting was a breeze!

My instincts when it comes to quilting is usually to do a lot of dense quilting.  It was difficult not follow my usual method.  I had to constantly remind myself that it was okay to do something different.

In the end I love how it turned out!  I scratched my 'circle' itch for the time being and got to use more of my neon pink stash.  This was the first time I did a double Drunkard's Path block, but it won't be the last!  While I initially had difficulty with getting things to line up while piecing, I figured it out and think I have a much better understanding of how to tackle the process.

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