Masquerade and Quiltcon 2016

Earlier this year, I discovered a blog post by Marji Roy at Ashbee Design featuring a canvas art design created using masking tape.  The design is quite striking, and I thought it would make a great quilt block.  I translated the design to fabric, repeated the block in a 3x3 layout, and came up with this quilt:

The quilt came together quickly and easily using strip piecing methods.  The solids are Michael Miller Cotton Couture in Limeade and Malibu.  I had used these solids together in another project to coordinate with some prints, and thought they would work together well on their own.  I didn't realize until after starting the quilt that I had chosen a blue which is the color of painters' tape, so it ties in nicely with the inspiration source -- hence the name "Masquerade."

For quilting, I started with straight lines stitched with a walking foot.  The parallel lines in the outer triangles were done by using the edge of the foot as a guide, and the remaining straight lines were marked with a hera marker.

I then added dense FMQ to fill in the open areas and accentuate the diamond shapes.

I used leftovers to increase the width of my backing fabric:

Now I just need to add a hanging sleeve, so the quilt can hang at Quiltcon 2016 in Pasadena (!!!!!).  I am thrilled that it was accepted.  I've seen some stunning quilts which did not make it into the show, so it is a surprise and an honor to have a quilt there.

(I did submit a couple of quilts which did not make it into the show -- "Ode to Joy" and "Ombre Hombre."  These two were also turned down for Quiltcon 2015, so it was not a big surprise to receive the "Thank you for entering..." emails once again.)

I finished "Masquerade" back in October.  It was fun to photograph with the autumn foliage.

I'm linking up with crazy mom quilts for Finish It Up Friday.