Breaking News: Molli Sparkles blogjacks Freshly Pieced
Oh, that. is. right.--and it is about to get crazy, sexy, cool in this part of the Internets. For those that haven’t met me yet (such a rare breed you are), my name is Molli B. Sparkles, and it is such a pleasure to make your sparkly acquaintance. I normally blog around the corner at MolliSparkles.com, but today I’ve blogjacked Freshly Pieced. Don’t worry, Lee is perfectly safe: I’ve got her tied up over at my place (velvet handcuffs, of course!) She’s entranced by the 37 mirrored disco balls I have rotating in my bedroom. She’ll be fiiiiine. I’ve left Ace of Base’s The Sign on repeat just so she doesn’t get bored. Well, now that she’s out of the way, I can show you what I’ve been working on? Ready? Good, I thought you’d never ask. (And I've got news about a quilt-along and a giveaway down below, so stick around until the end!)
Earlier this year, Lee hosted a quilt along called Bloom Bloom Pow (BBP). I think she got the name from some group called the Black Eye Sees? They are so 2011, so whatevs, what you need to know is that this was my first QAL, and I immediately knew I was going to use my rainbow, batik bundle for it. Batiks, don’t even get me started. I am an equal opportunity quilter, so all fabrics are welcome at my house.
I recently finished the front, but it was the back that set my hotpants on fire. You see, the BBP left quite a few scraps behind. Now, I’m not a total Greeny, but I just could not throw these pieces of fabric deliciousness away, so I saved them for the back. From the outset I knew the back would be as important as the front and it has been slowly and improvisationally evolving. I got the main back panel piece finished this past week (before I left for Tokyo--now that's a whole other story), so I guess it’s time to follow the rainbow. It is all scraps. My goal was for it to look like that last, explosive bloom of fireworks that comes right at the end of the celebration. There’s still some additions to be made, but this is the hard yards. Here you have a detail of that scrappy craziness. Bias-wha!? Ain’t no bias gonna stop Molli B. Sparkles! Mmm hmmm. Check!
You might say I am a Rainbow Queen. I like high volume, turn those speakers out, type of situations. (The Sign must be on its 17th repeat by now, I’m sure Lee is loving it). This piece was also assembled from the Bloom Bloom Pow scraps, and it will be attached to the bottom of that giant plume of colour. I’m thinking reflections on the river, embers falling into the darkness. You dig?
Oh, dear, I haven’t even showed you the actual Bloom Bloom Pow quilt TOP yet. Well, now you can really see the fireworks inspiration, as I tried to use every bright piece of that rainbow, batik bundle, combined with dark outer pieces that make a collage of blacks for the night sky. I owe Lee a debt of gratitude for hosting this QAL because it allowed me a jumping off point to stretch my glittery, fairy wings.
What kind of quilter would I be if I was only working on one thing though? I mean, really, who does that? Not me, that’s for damn sure! To assist, I’ve put my Quilt Bee minions to work on assembling Union Jack blocks. Hopefully by the end of the year these will be a quilt for my soon-to-be thirteen year old daughter. (Hey, Lee, while you’ve got your jam on, can you just whip me up a few of these as well?) I created the tutorial to make these blocks and you can find it on my blog. It’s an anatomically correct, non-paper pieced Union Jack block. Yes, the tutorial is thirteen pages long, but I promise you, if you follow the instructions, it is easy, peasy, cheesy Cover Girl! Pose!
Okay, now I wasn’t going to show you this, because it goes against everything I believe in, and my whole high volume philosophy. For the regular readers of my blog, you would know about The Quilt That Never Was, where I basically costed the production of a quilt for a work colleague and realized it would break her bank, and my fingers if I did it for that cost. The initial design concept was a scrappy Trip Around the World, done in all tone-on-tone whites. The complete opposite of high volume, one might even call it “no volume.” (Thanks, Anne!)
I made a few test blocks for the client, but after determining the cost, I shut the project down. Except, I couldn’t. These blocks enthralled me, called my name (“Oooh, Mollllliiiiii...”), and left me begging for more. Hell, it left my readers begging for more. (“Please Molli, can I have some more?”) I can’t deny it, this is a quilt that needs to be made. And so, I’ve committed, and I’ve made two more blocks. If anyone has any white tone-on-tone 2.5” x 16” strips they’d like to send me, or trade for something else, I’d gladly accept! (Now who’s asking for more?!)
To take this concept one Louboutin heel further, I am keeping track of the entire production cost of this quilt. Each and every fabric and thread, every minute worked, including travel and design times, as well as shipping, and long arm fees. I’m scaling it down to a lap sized quilt, and once complete it will be available to purchase: for it’s actual cost, plus margin. No, it won’t be expensive, it will be true.
If no one wants to purchase, I’m totally fine with that, and I will love it to death. If they do, maybe I’ll start a new trend in quilt costing and us quilters can finally be paid what we are bloody worth. Can I get an “Amen!”?!?
Finally--oh, don’t even act like your WiP list isn’t longer than this--I’ve got a little event called the Molli Sparkles Broken Herringbone Quilt Along (MSBHQAL, for short) that started on Monday. Us, MSBHQAL-ers are using Anne from Play-Crafts Broken Herringbone tutorial to make all sorts of fabulousness. This is a fly by the seat of your pants QAL, so make sure your booty is well supported because we’re gonna shimmy-shimmy shake-shake til we can’t make-make no more. And well, here are some blocks I have made.
To kick off the first week of the QAL, I’m giving away a Molli Sparkles Broken Herringbone Quilt Along Bundle (MSBHQALB, for short). To enter to win this fabric deliciousness (3.33 yards!), simply make a broken herringbone block, send me a photo to prove you’ve done so, and then comment on the QAL announcement post. I’ll be randomly picking a winner on Monday, so you’ve still got some major time. If you love the block, why don’t you make a few more and join us on our MSBHQAL? You’ll end up with something along the lines of this baby quilt I made earlier in the year.
Okay, so that’s it. I mean, for sure I have a few other WiPs hiding in closets and under the bed, but unless Lee has broken free and put herself to work on them, we’re gonna pretend they don’t exist ... for now. To recap: Sparkleworks, Union Jacks, No Volume Scrappy Trips, and Broken Herringbones is what I’ve got cookin’ up in my sparkly studio.
Now it’s your turn. You know the rules, link up below.
1. Link up any post from the past week that features at least one unfinished work-in-progress (WIP).
2. Somewhere in your post, you must link back here to my blog. (Or grab the WIP Wednesday button for your sidebar.)
3. Comment on at least a few of the other WIP Wednesday links—commenting on the two or three links directly before yours works well to make sure everyone gets comments!
What is that manic screaming I hear? Oh Lourdes of the Madonna, that is definitely Lee coming down the street, and she doesn’t sound so, um, happy to see me! I better skedaddle! I hope you enjoyed this hijacking, and make sure to check me out in my own ‘hood MolliSparkles.com. Sparkles and love always--Molli.