Coral, Grey and Gold in Diamonds.

from this

to this

with the help of some design walls.

Last weekend, the mister and I armed ourselves with a staple gun and some duct tape to make design walls using Oh Frannson's tutorial. Without them, I'm not sure this quilt would have ever emerged. It started as something more akin to Tokyo triangles, but wound up as a wonky harlequin shape.

This is another story of picking fabric before the project. I started with the Yuwa pastry print on white, and knew that I'd be adding the two coral Suzuko Koseki prints with numbers, shoes and ballerinas. Beyond that, I decided to let the fabric pick it's own course. Last week, I picked up the yellow and magenta Day in the Country spots to pair with the pastry print for my never-to-be-completed Camelot quilt. So I pulled them in. The Japanese vacation print came along for the ride. It was next to them on the stack. To soften the tones, I added a pink Suzuko Paris newsprint. It's a finicky fabric and decided not to pose for the group picture. I realized it was feeling flat and needed more saturation. So I added the mustard floor plans and Moda Oz pindots at either end of my colour spectrum.

Then because this was a low-commitment quick-turnaround project, I paired it with a cheap-as-chips grey that I picked up at Spotlight. Using really cheap basecloth gave me the luxury of being reckless and careless with my points. It was a bit freeing. Because I threw caution to the wind with my points, it made up quickly.

If you're considering investing or making a design wall of your own, I high recommend Elizabeth's method and batting suggestion. It's been aces in this house - my new little muse.

** My added tip: if you have young kids around, this would also make for a great storyboard play wall when it's not used for quilt projects