The Buzz block #6: “I-spy” Confetti

Auditioning a possible setting for my blocks

I was driving home from work on a gorgeous summer evening, thinking about what to do for my Buzz block, when a swarm of bees came flying into my car. Luckily, I was at a stop light because I put my car in park and jumped out. The bees flew away and I continued home with my window rolled up and A/C on. A little later in the evening, I went out to my backyard to give my herb garden a much needed drink of water and felt a tickling on the back of my leg. I closed my leg then, screamed and jumped around as a I saw a wasp flying away.

Only now as  I sit at my desk writing this post do I realize, that the incidents are somehow connected. It had to have been some sort of intervention to give me a little push to work on my Buzz block…after all, I was late on getting my blocks out. It was a really crazy coincidence and I did get my block together soon after the sting, but I had a mental block. All I knew is I wanted to do a really fun “I spy” quilt for my kids, but I just didn’t know where to go from there.

I have built up a stash of really cute novelty prints, most of which I have acquired from the C&T Publishing annual fabric giveaway for the employees. I really wanted to use some of these fabrics however, I was overwhelmed…which ones should I use, what should the color palette be, how will all these random bits work together, and what pattern to use? I really wanted to do a quilt that would be fun, challenging, and different for the quilter bees.

Inspiration quilt from "Block Party—The Modern Quilting Bee"

I decided to stop worrying about all the assorted fabrics, colors and patterns, and refocus on how the start up of the Buzz was inspired by the book Block Party—The Modern Quilting Bee.

I flipped through the book to find inspiration and the Confetti Quilt caught my attention right away. It seemed to be the perfect quilt for my stash. I knew that I would need to purchase a few solids and a whitish fabric. So with my quilt pattern in mind, I excitedly went to our local quilt shop, The Cotton Patch. I found a nice off-white fabric and a cute print that I had to purchase, even though I knew that I already had plenty of novelty prints. This actually helped me to focus the direction that I would take in choosing the prints. I picked out a few solids that went nicely with the cutest-ever print. From here everything really fell into place.

I went home and was able to quickly go through my fabrics and choose ones that went with the palette. I passed out baggies of assorted prints, solids and whites. I pretty much asked the bees to have fun, choose the snippets they like and put aside the ones that they don’t need. This block is really just a matter of choosing the fabrics you like and putting them together until you have a 10.5″ square. There are no rules, you don’t even have to cut straight. Everyone put a lot of creativity into their block and each one turned out unique and perfect. Some people did feel it was challenging to work on such a “free-form” type of block but I couldn’t tell by the end result.

I wanted to remember who made each block so I discreetly placed the initials of each quilter bee in a corner of their block. I can’t wait to put this quilt all together with a fun, bright backing. My original idea was to do an “I-Spy” quilt and I think my kids will love playing the game with this confetti quilt.