Patterns.... I just can't follow them!

The quilt I made after the circle quilt was for my nephew (yes my #1 fan), Scott.  His birthday was fast approaching (two weeks...) and I had to get moving if he was going to get a quilt in time.  I found the Graffiti Quilt Pattern on Connecting threads and knew he would love it! So, I got the pattern and went to the LQS to get the right fabrics.  I knew it would be batik and I knew the basic color schemes he had going in his new apt. I decided on oranges/browns/tans for the quilt.  I used wide backing for the back of the quilt and purchased it from thousandsofbolts.com (seriously good prices if you can put up with the web site...).  I also decided to try a different batting, Quilter's Dream Oriental Dream.  This batting a combo of silk, bamboo and cotton.  It is thin and wonderful to work with! So here is a picture of the quilt on the pattern:



Here is what the quilt actually ended up looking like:

Again, sorry about the cell phone photos....

Close up of fabric on the back.

I have yet to have a quilt for which I had a pattern turn out the way the pattern looks.... I always have to change something, this size isn't right, there aren't enough blocks in that quilt, I want it to look more (fill in the blank), what if I.... :) So for this one, after I read the pattern and had the basic information on how to cut the block, I reverted back to Karla Alexander's Stack the Deck method that I had used with the Out of Square quilt.  I did this mostly because I could not for the life of me wrap my head aroud what the pattern was saying to do when it came to 'mix up' the pieces of the block (this may have had more to do with my head than the pattern! haha).  The curves in this quilt's blocks are pretty slight (especially after doing the circle quilt!) and did not give me much of a problem.  I changed the blocks a bit from the pattern and then made more to make the quilt bigger.  I played with several different layouts before settling on the final.  I had to really focus on putting some lighter fabrics in this quilt.  I am drawn to darker richer colors but also know that there should be a balance in most cases. This quilt came together quick.  I quilted it with large spirals.  Scott even got his quilt early!  I think he liked it :)

How about you?  Do you have to have a pattern to make a quilt or do you just wing it? :)  When you are using a pattern, do you follow it exactly or do you just have to change something to make it your own? 

I am linking to Karen over at Sew Many Ways linky party (don't you just love a good linky party??).  If you are here visiting, welcome to my blog! Take a look around, comment (I love comments, read and respond to them all either by email or on the blog) and follow my quilty adventures, if you are so inclined, I hope you enjoy :)

 

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