Confetti Cushion

As I was finishing my Molli Sparkles Shirt and Tie quilt top, I found I had a lot of uniquely shaped fabric scraps leftover. All my paper piecers out there will know that this is not an altogether unusual occurrence! Normally, anything under about 2″ I just throw in the trash. If that makes me a size queen, well so be it! I’m just being practical! However, I think I had one too many (or too few!) martinis this particular night, and decided that these riotous scraps of colour needed to be sewn together. No plan, no end game, just slice, dice and don’t think twice.

If I found I was contemplating how the two, three, four pieces in front of me would work together, I would simply sew faster and move my inebriated self right on along. By the end of this first night of outcast sewing, I had formed a few small slabs of scrap confetti. That’s when I knew I either had to see this out to the end, or stop and drop it all the bin right then.

Well, I don’t give up on a martini until it is finished, so I wasn’t going to give up on these scraps. I came back for several more sewing sessions–and cocktails–but it wasn’t until this past week that I was finally able to assemble them all into a squared-up final slab. When sewing in this improv manner, it’s hard to know what the final result will be until you’re actually standing above the final result. I was surprised that I was able to get all of these scraps into 16″ of coordinated bliss, with nary a scrap left behind. Kismet, indeed!

I backed the confetti panel with a Tula Pink stripe from her All-Stars range. This was kind of unintentionally brilliant on my part ::hand claps:: because I was able to use the lines of the stripe as pre-marked quilting lines. So that 1″ quilted grid practically quilted itself! I used an Aurifil 50 weight in Dove #2600 to counter all that colour with the most neutral quilting thread and motif.

Finally, I finished this cushion with a backing of charcoal felt that I had stashed away, and a black zipper installed along a side-seam. I think this is my favourite way to finish a cushion because it forms a clean line, and allows you to rest your head on either side without leaving a zipper imprint across your face! So now I have a cushion to fall into next time I have too many martinis! Talk about drinking full circle!