Hello all,

I am the Confetti instructor that you read of in "A new technique for me" topic. Attached here you will see some of my students work.

It might interest you to know that none of these students call themselves artists. Meaning that they could not draw. As you can see they really are artists and they were pleasantly surprised when they created these wonderful pieces.

This technique is very simple....no, really! Anyone can do it. I have had 80 year old folks who never made art accomplish this and even a color blind man. It doesn't take long either. Actually, you could create whole thing, start to finish, in one weekend with time left over for a glass of wine or tea!

Enjoy

HOW???????

Is this legal? To reply to your own posting?
LOL
In case you didn't notice, the Confetti pictures in my post are not quite finished. The students were working on the quilting. Here are a few more.

Hello there-
Well, to make it short, you find your picture, transfer it onto some batting. Then you chop up your fabric using a rotary cutter NOT scissors. Then you sprinkle the tiny pieces onto the batting which is laying on top of your backing. You have to work flat on a flat surface. I encourage students to use a design board (think cardboard or foam core board). Once the design covers the batting to your satisfaction, you cover the whole thing with bridal tulle (fine netting) and you quilt it to death with your machine.

Got it?

Ah, I was wondering how you got the tiny pieces - also, I presume you chop them all up separately - what do you store them in?

I suppose what I really need to know what size of fabric would you chop up for a usable amount of confetti.

These all look great, but I have a question. How do you transfer it onto batting?

I saw this type of art shown on "Sewing with Nancy." It looks fairly easy, but your samples here are much prettier than what Nancy had on the show.

Looks interesting. Have you thought about using Hobbs 80/20 fusible quilt batt? I think it would make the pieces stay in place somewhat until you could stitch the tulle down. I think I might have to give it a try with some scraps.

Is this like the book Snippets???? It is a facinating technique.

Hello-
No! I don't chop each piece one at a time. I use my rotary cutter to go back and forth over the fabric till it is all chopped up. I store the confetti in zip locs or in old egg cartons.
I can't tell you how much to chop up without seeing the picture you will be making. It doesn't take much. a 12 inch square makes a lot of confetti. By the way, I am making a video to rent about this method. Stay tuned.

No, well sorta. She uses some sticky fusible interfacing to stick it all together. You have to be very careful when you cut each piece that it lands right side up or you will have things stuck to your iron. My technique uses NO glue, NO sticky stuff. Once it is quilted, you can toss it in the washer, roll it, fold it..whatever. I don't cut the confetti one piece at a time either. I use my rotary cutter.

you enlarge the image, assuming it needs it. use a window or light box to trace the main elements of the picture on to batting using a sharpie. Or, you could just draw right on the batting with the sharpie if you have any drawing ability.

I'm cheap! I won't spend the money AND the confetti is often piled up. The only confetti that would stick is the bottom layer. The other layers would still be loose. In my mind, it would not be worth the expense to only insure one layer of pieces would be stuck down. You would still have to handle it very carefully.

Hey Jackie-
Which one are you in the picture?
FYI, I just made an appointment with a videographer to create a video of this technique that I will be putting on the web for rent. Much easier to show you than to tell you how this works.

OMG I just realized that you are in Ireland! WOW! and Hello. I love, love, love the internet because of this.

By the way, I am making a video that people can rent about this technique. Stay tuned.

These are so cool!! And it sounds like it should be easy.

It really is. Anyone can do it with a little direction and a few tricks you too can make art. Don't you think it looks like a painting? That's what my students tell me anyway!

How wonderfully generous of you to share the "basics" of your technique with us. All of the pictures look wonderful.
You give us a new answer to the question. "How small of a scrap of material do you keep?"
My goofy sense of humor says, "Okay, nobody sneeze!!" :lol:

Not so goofy! I turned on my overhead fan once! Only once. LOL. Cats are a problem too. Mine loves to snuggle up on whatever I am working on and that does not work with these pictures. I learned to keep mine covered.

Thanks for the compliment but I hold the belief that the more people that see this, the more people will want to learn it and they will tell someone, who will tell someone else, etc. I am making a video that I will rent over the internet for $2.99 for those that need a few extra pointers.

Oh, boy! Another one for the bucket that gets bigger and bigger and my time gets shorter and shorter. Nobody lives forever, but with my list a growing.... I have already squirreled away a baggie of small snips for future reference. Thanks for all your tips and advice and I will look forward to the video.

Please let us know when you get your video out. These would be perfect for my teeny tiny pieces, and also the bigger scraps.

Tell your students that they've done great jobs.

Amazing technique! With my luck all the tiny pieces would shift before I got them quilted down. Does the tulle and pins work well to keep everything in place?
PS I'd have two glasses of wine if I did it that quick and easy!

Please, please let us know when this is ready to go. I love these!

Could you consider offering DVD's of this technique as well? It sounds like fun to do but my sewing room is at the far end of the house from my computer and my memory span is that of a gnat at this point.

does this have to be quilted on a long arm?

Do you have the backing laid down first then the batting? What thread do you quilt with? I love this and will have to try it. I'm looking forward to your video.

I love this idea. I would also be interested in a DVD. I can actually see some projects already in my mind.

Oh dear! I have been throwing away all the small snippets, like the tips when I'm cutting triangles, and all the edges when I make my pieces even. If I have saved them all, I probably would have finished a 10"x12" project by now. This is truly amazing. Thanks for your information. It would be really helpful if you could make a written/video instruction and just sell it as a download, instead of renting.

Very interesting. Would like to try this. I assume you match the thread to the color you are "sewing to death"?, lol? Or do you use the translucent thread?

Confetti quilting is not new. Shelly Berge from Lincoln, NE gave a workshop at our guild in Seneca, KS back in the '90's, I'm thinking. She had a couple of patterns out and was written up in a quilt magazine. She wasn't doing the 'art' pictures, but she was making hearts, designs on cards, etc with the tiny pieces that you are talking about. You have carried the idea one step futher with terrific results. :thumbup:

More info for you-- Yes, a video or download will be coming on the heels of the Rented video. I'm going as fast as I can! LOL I know different types of learners need different modes of learning.

No, you don't need a long arm to quilt this. In fact, I recommend against it. The longarms that I have seen cause the quilt to bounce, just a little and that would be all it takes to ruin your piece.

Yes, backing goes down first, batting on top, now design/picture.

I use invisible thread/nylon/translucent. The stuff that looks like spider web it is so fine. You want the quilting to be secondary to the picture and not take away. There are too many colors in these things to be able match the thread.

I know the technique is not new. I made confetti pictures in grade school for heavens sake! I know about Noriko Endo but I did not know about Shelly Berge. I will go see if she has anything online.

Thank you all soooo much. I have been toying with the idea of a video for several months. You'll tipped me over the edge and I thank you.

I missed a question or y'all are posting faster than I can type!

Tulle and pins hold it together while you quilt it BUT you MUST keep it flat. That means you need an extended bed on your machine or some way to keep it all flat.

My video will give you some ideas about how to do that cheaply if you haven't got an extended bed.

OMG. I can not wait for your video. I am sure you will be hounded by one and all until it is ready. Really exciting. Thank you.

wow cant wait to see the video !!! thank you

I'll be tickled pink to see this video!

bet your class is great, will be nice to see more on this subject!

Love, love this idea, any specific batting ?

No special batting. I use what ever scraps I happen to have lying around from other projects. I will say that it needs to be on the thin side.

very exciting to see & even think about making one!

I'm very anxious to try this as well, thanks for making it available.
Janw1