Confetti Cannon

When the MQG sent out an email a few months ago, regarding the Quiltcon Michael Miller challenge, I very quickly signed up thinking "this will be fun!"  I received my little bundle of pastel cotton couture weeks later and thought "Ummmmmm".  I had no idea how to make the pastels work.  I mean, I've only ever used pastels a few times in my quilting life, so was left a bit deflated.  I took them out again not long after and just stared at them.  That was when I thought of Confetti.  The tiny little pieces of pastel paper, which are used in celebrations everywhere.  And that was my inspiration......

I went "old school" for the planning of this quilt.  After weeks of having confetti twirling around in my head, I got myself some grid paper and pencils, and literally just drew up what I'd been thinking of.  And the following day, made the entire quilt top.

As per usual, I winged it a bit!  I made it up as I went along - literally dividing my design up in to blocks of squares of rectangles, however the little confetti spots would fit in.  The 3" snowball blocks were easy-peasy.  34 in total.  Because I wanted the confetti to be randomly scattered throughout the quilt top, it made the piecing rather, shall we say "interesting"?  It is probably what some Modern peeps would call "improvisational" - I just call it random!  But it worked - and that was the end result I was after...

 

Once I had the top made, I thought and thought and thought about how on earth I was going to quilt it.  I had an idea in my head, but thankfully one of my lovely MQG friends - Katrina - cemented the idea and helped me visualise it!  I think the diagonal lines from the bottom corner help create movement and project the confetti up in to the air!

 

I mostly stuck with the grey for the binding, but also added a little pastel rainbow to the side.  I LOVE it!

 

This photo shows you a little more closely how the piecing has been done.  It's one very fiddly jigsaw puzzle!

 

The Michael Miller challenge rules are to use all Cotton Couture in the quilt top and then any Michael Miller fabric for the binding and backing.  I made a quick trip down to the large quilting store nearby and scoured their shelves for something to suit as backing.  This quilt was always going to be for a baby/child, so when I stumbled (literally, I stumbled over it) over this Backyard Baby print, I grabbed it!  It's SO perfect.

 

It's a little difficult to photograph, but I used several pastel shades of Aurifil in the quilting - re-threading my machine after every. single. row.  Was it time consuming?  Yes.  Was it worth it?  Yes!!

I spent all day Saturday stressing about the photos to submit!  You see, I've never actually entered a quilt show!  And the rules state only two photographs to be sent in - one hanging on a wall and the other a close up.  So I moved furniture in my front room so as not to get any shadows and did my best!  I guess only time will tell.....

I have thoroughly enjoyed this challenge - because it really was a challenge!  Throw a girl some pastels and see what she can come up with!

The Stats:

Name:  Confetti Cannon

Size: 40" x 60"

Fabric: Michael Miller Cotton Couture pastels & Ozone.  

Backing:  Michael Miller Backyard Baby

Quilting:  By Me on my Bernina

Thread:  Aurifil 40wt Pastels

I'm linking up - You can too!

The Bonnie & Camille Charm Along WINNERS!

WOW!  I have been completely blown away by the amazing projects everyone has been working on with their Bonnie & Camille charm squares!  It once again cements the fact that 5" squares have a whole lot more value than they are given credit for!  If you haven't already checked out all of the linked up projects, pop over to the linky HERE and have a browse!  Thank you to everyone who participated and especially to the 28 people who have linked up.  You all put yourselves in the running for the fabulous prizes!  Unfortunately, there can only be TEN winners!  Which is pretty good!!!!

So without further ado, here are all the winners (as chosen by random.org):

The lovely Camille Roskelley has offered FIVE lucky participants their choice of ONE PDF pattern from her amazing range - including a couple of stunning new patterns!

FIVE winners of patterns are:

Missy Mack

Michelle Hickson

Tootle Jayne

Kristi Kuhne

Joanna King

A $50 voucher to spend on the amazing range of Quilter's Solids at The Oz Material Girls.  

(Part of voucher is to cover postage costs).

ONE winner of $50 voucher is:

Anna Cromie

Live Love Sew has kindly donated a Scrumptious Layer Cake AND a copy of her X's & O's quilt pattern!

ONE winner of Live Love Sew prize is:

Kate (Manic Mumdays)

$50 Voucher AND a Miss Kate Layer Cake!

ONE winner of Fifi's prize is:

Claire Scott

Machine embroidered Towel, hand towel & face washer set, made to order, kindly donated by one of our charm swap members - Meg Pease.

ONE winner of Meg Pease's prize is:

Sue Sews Too

A SIX MONTH subscription to Make Modern Magazine! Please note: You will receive access to the next three Make Modern issues published after you subscribe. If you subscribe after Issue 1 is published on 1 September, you will receive Issue 2 onwards

ONE winner of Make Modern subscription is: 

Melanie Sim

Congratulations to everyone on their amazing projects!  You are truly all amazing and winners in my eyes - and thankfully it was not up to me to choose!!!!  I will be in touch in the next couple of days to organise your prizes!

I look forward to seeing some of you finish your projects, and of course, as always, will be on the hunt for more fabulous charm square ideas!

Bonnie & Camille Charm-Along Linky is OPEN!

I may be a couple of days late - but the Bonnie & Camille Charm Along Link up is now OPEN!  Unfortunately, I did not finish my quilt!  You know the excuse I'm going to use - Tokyo.  I'm looking forward to getting around to basting and quilting this baby, but it may be some time before I get to it!

Now - it's your turn!  Remember - your projects don't have to be completed!  Just link up what you've been able to achieve!  I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's goodies!

 I have rounded up these amazing Australian sponsors, with fabulous prizes for some lucky charm-alongers!  All you have to do is link up your project at the bottom of this post before 4pm TUESDAY THE 28TH OF OCTOBER, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA TIME, and the winners will be chosen and announced that night here on the blog.

The lovely Camille Roskelley has offered FIVE lucky participants their choice of ONE PDF pattern from her amazing range - including a couple of stunning new patterns!

A $50 voucher to spend on the amazing range of Quilter's Solids at The Oz Material Girls.  
(Part of voucher is to cover postage costs).

Live Love Sew has kindly donated a Scrumptious Layer Cake AND a copy of her X's & O's quilt pattern!

Sponsored prize description coming soon!

Machine embroidered Towel, hand towel & face washer set, made to order, kindly donated by one of our charm swap members - Meg Pease.

A SIX MONTH subscription to Make Modern Magazine! Please note: You will receive access to the next three Make Modern issues published after you subscribe. If you subscribe after Issue 1 is published on 1 September, you will receive Issue 2 onwards

What are you waiting for?  Go forth and link up!

Link up your Bonnie & Camille Charm Projects HERE:

An InLinkz Link-up

Kate Spain Charm-along Winners!

I'm so sad to see the charm-along ending today!  But I'm so very excited to see all of the UH-mazing projects that were linked up!  You seriously have to go and check out each and every one of them.  The way one set of 5" squares can be turned in to so very many different things is inspiring!  You can find them all on the linky HERE.

But for now - feast your eyes on the seven fabulous winners, who were all chosen by Random.org (because I basically could not choose a favourite - it would be like asking me who my favourite child was!?!?).  Here we go.....

1. Gina Coetzer

A $50 Voucher OR a Kate Spain Solstice Jelly Roll from fabricgarden.com.au

2.  Sandie Beach

Mystery Bundle from Gnomeangel.com

3.  Jayne Maddern


$20 Voucher to spend at Patternsonly.com

4.  Jenny Doyle

FQ bundle of Daisies 'n such from katequilts.com

5.  Handmade By Susie

12 FQ Solids bundle from kelliottmagic.com

6.  Chrissy Deacon

MerlyLou Designs Spring Cushion Pattern & Woollen Felt Kit

AND....... Drum Roll..........

A little pressie from Kate Spain herself!

7. Tina Fledderus

I want to do a HUGE shout out to all the wonderful charm swappers who not only took part in the charm swap (both here and the US, cos I know we had some Americans joining us!) but also jumped in and used their charms!  It has been so lovely knowing that the swap was the catalyst for creativity, and for some - a reason to start sewing again!  I have loved each and every part of it!

Another HUGE shout out to all the fabulous Aussie sponsors - please go and check out their businesses!

And also a big shout out to Kate Spain!  Kate (and Pete) has answered many an email from me, and has always been fabulous in her replies and sharing of information!  You are very generous, and I appreciate the time you have taken to be involved!  Mwah!

Ok - where to from here?  Tomorrow...........

Be sure to be around technology mid morning...... Sign ups for the next Aussie Charm Swap will open!

See you then!

Kate Spain Charm Along Linky Party!

All of this Kate Spain charm fun had to come to an end eventually, and I'm afraid now is the time!  I have thoroughly enjoyed the charm swap and the creating with all those beautiful fabrics, and am pleased to show you ONE of my finished projects!  The other one will be unveiled later this week.  But for now, I give you Kate Spain Hexed....

This lovely little wall hanging consists of 66 charms from the swap and a couple of half hexies from my stash of other KS lovelies.  I had already finished off a quilt top using the other 46 charms, and wondered what to make with these.  I then found the half hexie templates I bought over a year ago hiding in my drawer, and thought I'd give them a go.

 

And for my first ever attempt at any type of hexie, I must say, I really love them.  Even though my templates are really made for 2.5" strips or longer lengths of fabric, they just fit on the charm squares, and only just cut off the edges of the hexies at the bottom.  But this actually worked fine!  I love the preciseness of the points where they join.

 

I quilted it using a beautiful creamy gold Aurifil #2000.  I started off in the centre and worked my way outwards in a "bloom" pattern.  It adds some pretty superb texture!  Around the borders I added some pebbles in a zig zag motion and then outlined them with some straight lines.  I love the effect it has given.

 

The backing is the last of an Ikea print I bought a couple of years ago.

This will be hanging somewhere in my house - I'm not sure where yet!  But I love that I'm going to have a reminder of my first ever charm swap!

Now - it's your turn!  I have rounded up these amazing Australian sponsors, with fabulous prizes for some lucky charm-alongers!  All you have to do is link up your project at the bottom of this post before 5pm WEDNESDAY THE 6TH OF AUGUST, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA TIME, and the winners will be chosen and announced Wednesday night here on the blog.

A $50 Voucher OR a Kate Spain Solstice Jelly Roll from fabricgarden.com.au

Mystery Bundle from Gnomeangel.com

$20 Voucher to spend at Patternsonly.com

FQ bundle of Daisies 'n such from katequilts.com

12 FQ Solids bundle from kelliottmagic.com

MerlyLou Designs Spring Cushion Pattern & Woollen Felt Kit

AND....... Drum Roll..........

A very special prize for one of the Aussie Charm Swappers - from Kate Spain herself!  Horizon charm pack, Kate Spain Journal and Playing Cards!

An InLinkz Link-up