Choose Your Own Adventure with Confetti Cottons™️

Some quilts begin with a pattern.

This one began with a spark.

A few months ago, I helped my sister host Cousin Quilt Camp—a week of creativity, laughter, and sewing chaos with kids ages 8–14. Each cousin started with a blank sheet of graph paper and a handful of crayons. Their only assignment? Design your own quilt block. Watching them draw, color, erase, and dream was pure magic. Every square on that paper represented possibility. By the end of the week, those sketches came to life in fabric and thread, stitched by little hands brimming with pride

This is the quilt my 10 year old daughter designed and sewed all by herself at quilt camp! Didn’t it turn out so cute?!

That experience—seeing design as play—stayed with me. So when I came home, I decided to take my own advice and choose my own adventure.

I began with an empty sheet of graph paper and sketched up my design. I then colored it to match my Confetti Cottons™️ Fabrics.

This design consists of three types of blocks: the 8 & 12 checkered block and star blocks using half square triangles. Every square on the paper is equal to 2″

I began with the checkered blocks first sewing together 4 strips of alternating colors cut at 2 1/2″ by WOF.

I then subcut those strips into 2 1/2″ strips. After flipping every other strip I nested the seems and sewed them together to get my 8 and 12 checkered blocks.

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After completing all the checkered blocks I got started on the star blocks. I made the half square triangles using the easy eight method. I took two 6×6″ squares, marked an x and sewed 1/4″ on either side of the x.

Then cut your square in half and in half again, finish cutting by cutting along the x to get your eight half square triangles.

Following the pattern designed on the grid paper I assembled the stars.

The Quilt

This quilt is made entirely with Confetti Cottons™️, which gave me the freedom to play with bold, simple color. I wanted something graphic and joyful—a nod to traditional blocks, but with my own twist. On one side, a large star and checkerboard band keep things clean and modern. Flip it over, and the second side bursts with scrappy energy: smaller stars and squares dancing together in pinks, mustards, and soft blues.

I had so much fun designing the front I had to add a touch of the design to the back!

It’s double the fun and fully reversible—two quilts in one adventure. Depending on the day (or my mood), I can choose between calm simplicity or cheerful chaos.

On one side, a large star and checkerboard band keep things clean and modern.

Flip it over, and the second side bursts with scrappy energy: smaller stars and squares dancing together in pinks, mustards, and soft blues.

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The Inspiration

Cousin Quilt Camp reminded me that quilting doesn’t always have to follow the rules. Sometimes, the best patterns are the ones that come from our imagination—shaped by whimsy, color, and curiosity. That’s the spirit behind this quilt: designing without fear, and trusting that beauty will come together one square at a time.

If quilting is storytelling, this one is a choose-your-own-adventure novel—every turn revealing something unexpected and wonderful.

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The Details

• Fabric: Confetti Cottons™️

• Quilting: Allover loops for soft texture by Warm River Quilt Co.

• Design: Original, inspired by kids’ drawings from Cousin Quilt Camp

• Photography: Captured among golden fall leaves—because this quilt deserved a backdrop as playful and colorful as its story

I hope this inspires you to get out some graph paper and create some magic!

xo-Liz Judd @joystitched