Circle Quilts

Once again, I'm returning to my gigantic, really, actually just disgusting amount of Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  Choose your color palette, I'm sure I have it.  I could go on a Kaffe Fassett hoarders show.  Soon there will be new lines in the Kaffe Fassett eye candy line, so I must use up this stash, (there is no way I can use it all up over the summer).  Plus, I REALLY loved this blue.  It's a Kona, not sure anymore what and too lazy to go look at the color card right now, and you'll see why  later.  But it was what I started with, and an idea about the circles.  

 Cut out all these circles from the Kaffe selections.  I did another circle quilt a few months ago, and it was structured, I wanted to have something a little more improv.  And this was what I was coming up with in my mind.

The hardest part about putting this top together was picking a border.  Because in my mind it all came together so effortlessly.  I tried all different fabrics from the palette, these borders were the cut outs form the circles, but this wasn't working for me.  And now I have a bunch of these squares with holes in them.  

 Finally, I decided, it was the background color which wasn't working.  The blue was what I started with, and I had to change it to make anything for this top work.  I was forcing the blue, and all the Kaffe's co-ordinated with the blue, and I loved the blue,  and I promise I will use you in something else blue!  but I felt this Kona grey worked better.  (Also too lazy to go look up color, but if you want it, I can find it.)

Next was getting all these circles attached.  I didn't want them to all be fused, but I used a little strip of fusing to try to keep them down in one spot.  This was more difficult than it sounds.  I dropped several circles off in the move from design board to iron, until I finally realized I could pin the circles in place until I tacked them down.  Oh.  Something someone who has been piecing for a number of years should have picked up on right away.  

I would stitch down a top circle, then move to the larger background circle.  In hindsight I should have used stabilizer, the circles would have stayed in place better.  I swear I have sewn before!  And on quilts!  My brain wasn't moving too fast on this one.  I will see after quilting how wonky this top turns out.  

Working on the background.  I had a lot of squares left over that were going to be then cut into circles, but weren't, so I used these for the pieced back.  I used up  lot of these Kaffe Fassett prints that are in the circles.  So the pile of this color palette is much smaller, it might even need replacements!  Sigh.  

The inner border is a Kona Navy (maybe), something dark blue and it is a Kona.  

The pieced back, I almost like it more than the top.  I have the quilt pinned, it laid on the floor, already pinned for a week.   I had much graduation parties going on last week.   It's the only quilt pinned, so I guess she will be quilted next.