When The Last Piece Of Confetti Falls...

Does that mean the party is over?!  Somehow, I don't think so.  This design has bounced around my brain for far too long.  It was time to try it again and hopefully make it better. 

Enter...Confetti.  The long awaited premier of a design that I have played with, swooned over and yes...finally completed!

Confetti
42" x 54"

It wasn't an easy under taking piecing each little 1/2" (or damn close) square.  It was more like a labor of love.  One that needed to be done on a large scale.  

I was inspired to try again when I saw 'Artifact' by Alison Glass.  It seemed like a perfect compliment to Confetti.  So I set out to incorporate her design into mine.  Personally, I felt it was a perfect fit.

There are bits and pieces of Artifact throughout this quilt.  Why go to all that trouble?  Good question!  I like to improve on a design, try and make it better.  Perfection is always a goal. Something we all strive for.  

This quilt isn't perfect, but it's better than the last time I tried!  It has it's wonky moments, that's for sure.  I even tried taking extra time to mark, measure and stitch.  I learned early on that it wasn't going to happen.  

And I learned that it wasn't going to matter.  Perfectly imperfect.  There is something beautiful about imperfection.    

The backing is all Allison Glass Artifact.  Now that's perfect!  I tried really hard to line up the front of the quilt with the backing when I basted it.  With a little extra time and a hell of a lotta luck...it lined up!  

I knew early on that I would straight line quilt it.  I like the grid design and think it works well with the design.  And really...Alison Glass said so too!

I couldn't resist a few 'cheese cake' shots, you know... centerfold worthy shots!  How about that little rainbow star?!

Playing with shadows.  When you can't get out and find a location to shoot your photos,  the next best thing is playing shadows.  You can get some interesting shots! 

If you would like to read more about this quilt, click on these links for a little more insight and detail:  It's A Party! and Pillow Talk!  

Background Fabric:  Kona Snow
Binding:  Kona Pepper
Star:  Kona Pepper
Backing:  Alison Glass ~ Artifact

There are a total of 608 ~ 1/2" squares in a zillion colors!  

To me...totally worth every single second!  

LINKING:

Let's Bee Social

Needle & Thread Thursday

TGIFF

Pillow Talk

If I have a pillow to rest my head on, and a quilt to cover up with...then I have nothing to complain about!

I believe that is the life of a quilter at the end of a long day of productive quilting!  I have finally come to the point where my dreary old couch and sad old pillows needed some attention.

Enter Hazel The Hedgehog times two.  Pieced, quilted and washed.  A powerful punch of color.

19" x 19"

For Miss Pink, I added the trademark cat eye glasses.  This time I did a tight zigzag stitch around the edges.  These pillows will be used every day and I didn't want the glasses to fray.  

You'll notice that I added a strip of personality to each pillow, and arranged it so they were on opposite sides.  Straight line quilting works for me on these pillows and the personality strips got more personality by adding more lines in different thread colors.  

I didn't realize it at the time I was picking out fabric, but they ended up being a boy and girl! Not intentional at all!  I'm not a gender specific kind of person!

I will say that these guys make a boring ugly couch a much better place.  When you walk in to the room you see bright and pretty.  That I like!

When I decided I was going to make an entire quilt using my Confetti idea (waiting to be quilted), I first tried a test block.  That block didn't make the final cut for the quilt, but it wasn't going to linger in the deep dark closet either.  It just needed a border and viola!  it became a pillow.

16" x 16"

The color slices at the corners were an idea I was trying with the quilt.  Nice for a pillow, not for the quilt.  The extra detail works well in pillow form.

A simple quilted grid was all it needed for the finish, and washing but that almost goes without saying.

You know me and quilt porn...I love a good close up, that's for sure!

LINKING:

Oh Scrap

Sew Cute 

An Objective View

When I get at a certain point in a quilt design, I inevitably hit the proverbial wall!  It's the point where you wonder if your trying too hard, not trying hard enough or maybe keeping it simple is the best way to tackle the big finish!  I'm sure many of you have met that point and maybe very familiar with it.  I'm thinking maybe if I write about it, document it...a solution will come my way!

Here I am.  With all my Confetti pieced, pressed and crisp as big green apple...I'm wondering what my next step will be.  

Today, I toyed around with a paper pieced rainbow star.  I was thinking it would tie in with the blocks and since I'm using bits of Alison Glass 'Artifact', it mimics the rainbow compass. Too much?  Too rainbow?  It isn't like there isn't enough color already, but we must play and try and test and tweak and change!

Perhaps if the front of the quilt was black & white the rainbow star would make more sense. GAH!  Ever had one of those moments where an idea all of the sudden veers off to an entirely different direction?  Darn you star!!

Weather or not I use this star in my Confetti quilt, I really rather love it!  It's a little 4" hunk of love in my mind! 

Why does the back have to be so interesting?  Paper piecing is so amazing, I'm not sure I can get enough of it!

My first test block will end up being a pillow cover.  (yes, again!)  It also ended up being a test for another sashing idea for the quilt.  I can picture color in the sashing, I'm just can't nail it down in my mind.  

I have found it helps with my process if I write about it and of course, take pictures.  While I want to go full force and finish it up, I also need to step back and breathe.  Take a break. There is that pesky word 'perspective'.  That I am in need of right now!

Do you ever feel like you are trying too hard on a design?   If you get to that point what do you do about it?

It's A Party ?!

You can't  have a party without confetti, right?!  But you can have confetti without a party...I'm making this up!!

When I find time to do what I want, with no deadlines or pressure, self imposed or otherwise, I like to revisit previous projects.  How can I make it different or better?  Do I really need to change it up?  Is it even worth the trouble?  Can I take it to another level?

When I first made my Confetti Pillow Cover, there was a lot of interest in it.  Honestly, I liked that...a lot!  It feels really weird saying that!  I have always wanted to give this design another go, I know there is something more I can do with it.



For the past week I have been plotting, cutting, stitching and piecing.  There is a plan in mind, however it changes with each completed block!

As of today, I have five blocks.  One that I am sure I will not use, as it was my first and I was just playing around.  While I would like to call this my Alison Glass quilt, I don't thing you get that Abacus 'Artifact' by looking at this!

Especially this side, which is the back and basically is just like the front.  I am mesmerized by the seams, can I say perfection?!  The squares are 1/2" finished and believe me when I say it isn't easy getting the rows to line up perfectly!  

  
I started out with a whole lotta these pieces, specific measurements, a huge variety of solids and Kona Snow.

And ended up with a whole lotta of this!  I'm going to say it!  I love seeing this, I love taking pictures of scraps!  

I'm a huge fan of what I like to call 'Quilt Porn'.  To me this is quilt porn, I cannot get enough of it!  Grab your camera, zoom in and snap!  

A warn and fuzzy feeling washes over me when I see something like this!  Seriously, is this not an amazing shot?!

I would love to have a regular feature of 'Quilt Porn' on my blog or even a link up!  Am I the only one who gets a little excited seen shots like this?  Would you link up? Or maybe to start out, would you send me pictures to feature on my blog?  Just wondering!

It may be a while until I figure this Confetti Quilt out, but it sure is fun to play once in a while!

LINKING: 

WIP Wednesday

Let's Bee Social 

TGIFF