blast, the quilt

i'm over the moon excited to introduce you to  blast, the quilt.

yep, there it is. awfully pretty, yes? i thought so. even better... blast is currently attending Quilt Market in Houston! i made a quilt that is going to be at Quilt Market. what??? here's the story...

i made this block back in june for my do.Good Stitches circle. i've been meaning to write up a tutorial for it since then, but i just never quite found the right combination of fabrics.

then came the opportunity to make dresses out of Thomas Knauer's Asbury for market, and along with it quite a few yards of strike-offs. i got the fabric in the mail monday and needed to have the dresses finished by thursday morning. i had already made muslins of the dresses, so that was a crunch but completely do-able. (see maggie mae dresses and lily dress remix posts for more info about those)

but as i was driving home from work that monday, it just hit me that Asbury would be perfect for this block. obviously i had no choice but to make a quilt before starting on the dresses. slightly less sleep, yes, but totally worth it.

i was actually able to find my months-old directions for the block (i know, i was shocked too!). the original block finished at 12", but i decided to double that (24" finished blocks) so that i could show the great patterns in this line. i also added HSTs in each of the four corners of the original block design.

 

as all of the pieces were coming together (on my kitchen floor - i really need a design wall, huh?), i *may* have tweeted something like "it's like a fucking amusement park exploded in the kitchen!" which led me to the naming of the quilt pattern. 

blast:

. to make or open by or as if by explosion
. a highly exciting or pleasurable experience or event, such as a big party (or amusement park?)

additional blocks or an alternate layout of four blocks would form an interesting (and slightly less explosive) secondary pattern. also, cats love a good quilt, don't they?

i'm excited and nervous to see what the response is to this quilt! happy quilt marketing, my dear quilt!

*updates*

here is blast, the quilt during Thomas Knauer's schoolhouse at Quilt Market (thanks to Julie and Brenda for the photos):

i've entered blast, the quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side.

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats
Finished quilt measures : 48″ square
Quilted by : me
Best Category : Throw Quilt, Home Machine Quilted