Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Riley's Showstopper


I finally put the last few stitches in the binding for my Riley Blake challenge quilt yesterday.  It's no secret that I really struggled with trying to figure out how to use these fabrics.  But on the day that I made myself sit down and figure something out, I took out my entire stash of solids to play around with.


Once I placed the orange circle print with the magenta and placed the chevron print (which I had previously been thinking was more blue) in with the aqua and turquoise, it all made sense and clicked into place for me.  Rainbow, of course!!  So now what to do with them?


In the comments for my Stumped post, someone suggested that I limit myself to using something I already had instead of searching for some brand new project to try.  Awesome idea!  I went to my list of patterns that had been collected but not used and came across the Showstopper pattern by Don't Call Me Betsy.  When she released this paper pieced pattern, I fell in love and bought it immediately but wasn't sure when I'd get the chance to use it.  At 96 pieces per block, it's by far the most complex paper pieced block I've tried and I can't really imagine making an entire quilt from it.  A mini works perfectly.  Each block is 12" finished, so this mini ended up at 24" square.


Elizabeth is a genius - all the secondary shapes that this pattern makes really keeps your eye moving all over the mini.


I really liked getting to make the prints the focal points of the blocks while all the solids keep those shapes so crisp and sharp!


The spiral quilting from my Brightly Broken mini made another appearance here.  Instead of white thread, I actually used a light lavender.


It doesn't show up too well in the photos, but in person I think it adds a little extra interest.


The only fabric from the challenge bundle that I didn't use was the grey and white stripe.  I would have used it for the binding, but knew that I would run short.  Instead, I used more of the charcoal grey solid and threw in a few bias strips from my print scraps.  I really like the effect of those bonus pops of color around the edges!


So with this finish, I've finally come to the end of my "have-to" sewing list and only have my WIPs nagging the back of my mind.  But instead of marching straight into those, I think I'm going to give my sewing machine a little break for a while and recharge my batteries.

Linking up:
Fresh Poppy Design

34 comments:

  1. LOVE THIS! I had to look twice to make sure it was The Challenge. Very nice. Look forward to seeing it in person. :)

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  2. wow this is so happy and colorful totally love it

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  3. Oh it turned out awesome! By far my favorite of the challenge quilts I've seen!

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  4. Oh my - this is gorgeous! This is by far my favorite I've seen of the challenge quilts floating around the web!

    Kim

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  5. This is wonderful! I love how you added the solids. Great design choice!

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  6. Wow, those blocks look fantastic! I think you did a wonderful job with your colour usage!

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  7. Impressively accurate sewing skills. It really is a show stopper!

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  8. You did a truly fantastic job using a really hard collection of prints. I look forward to seeing it on Saturday.

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  9. Wow... this is stunning. When I saw the Riley Blake fabric selection I never envisioned it would look this amazing.

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  10. Wow, this is awesome!!! Great job.

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  11. This is really amazing! I like it more than mine I think. :D

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  12. 96 pieces per block! Amazing work.

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  13. You are so kind to say such nice things about the pattern - I'm so glad you found a good use for it, and I think it looks absolutely fantastic for the challenge!!! So glad to hear you enjoyed making it, in spite of all the pieces. I think all the beauty that happens when you put the whole thing together makes it worth all those teeny pieces ;) Love it, good luck in the challenge!!

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  14. Wow, it's beautiful! You did a great job.

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  15. Wow, it's beautiful! You did a great job.

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  16. What a stunning piece of work - although it looks like a very clever pattern, I'm sure it's mostly the wonderful selection of fabric :0)

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  17. Wow....96 pieces in each block! The colors are beautiful together. Great effect! Love it!

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  18. This is definitely a show stopper. Awesome job!

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  19. Those blocks have a lot of pieces. I'm impressed! And those pops of color along the binding are excellent. I need to follow your lead and do more interesting things with my binding!

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  20. Beautiful and impressive! Will this quilt be displayed at HMQS? I've seen quilt a few bloggers showing their RB challenge quilts. Great work. So far I like yours the best.

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  21. this quilt is amazing, and a great representation of those challenge fabrics!

    Thanks so much for linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  22. Amazing use of your challenge fabrics! And an absolutely gorgeous mini!

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  23. Oh. My. Gosh. This is incredible!!!!!

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  24. What a beautiful quilt! I think the white fabric is placed perfectly to accent the colors.

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  25. it's great! There's so many different patterns to look at, I can see why it's a Show Stopper! {:-Deb

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  26. Oh my! That is one gorgeous quilt! I can't believe you did 96 pieces in a 12" block. Are you cross-eyed. You did a amazing job with the challenge fabrics.

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  27. Wonderful piecing. The colors are wonderful. Great job!

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