Showing posts with label Miniature Quilts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miniature Quilts. Show all posts

Friday, March 24, 2017

Mini Madness - Island Batik and Aurifil spools!

I was very delighted that our March challenge was Miniature quilts because I do love making miniatures!  I can remember loving small things even as a child - making dollhouses out of cardboard boxes and filling them with furniture.  I remember a neighbor lady showed me how to make a fabulous chair out of a soup can one day.  My favorite doll was a 6 inch high Dawn doll and since I was getting interested in sewing I had tons of ideas for making her outfits!  My friends and I liked collecting the small troll dolls as well - but they were a little harder to dress.  Those squatty bodies always looked funny in everything we made!

I'm still very delighted by tiny things and making mini quilts is just fun for me.  For this challenge I was all set to make a quilt from the Carol Doak Miniature book, but then when I was blog-reading I found the Sew Many Colors pattern and changed my mind.
I'm trying to think of some basketball analogies, but nothing fits!  I guess I'll have to go with baseball - it's a home run - a mini quilt, made out of Island Batik and Aurifil thread.  Three of my favorite things.

It was fun to hunt through my Island Batik fabrics looking for colors I liked for the spools - I only needed a small piece for each spool, so scraps were perfect for this project.  (Definitely one of my favorite things about mini quilts!)
I love the stripey green!  Perfect for a spool of thread, don't you think?

Before I knew it, I had the whole quilt pieced!
Now to decide how to quilt it!  I decided to do an all over grid.  I really didn't want to mess with marking it, so I decided that I could probably eyeball 1/2 inch spacing and started stitching!

I would stitch three lines to the right of the last line, then turn the quilt, and stitch 3 lines on the next side.  I had to do a little adjusting when I got near the edge, but it really doesn't show much.  Trim, add binding, and my quilt is finished!


I love it to death!  In fact, I plan on rearranging my mini wall to make the perfect place to feature this quilt!

Sew Cute!  I love foundation paper piecing with Island Batik fabrics!  They press perfectly and are so easy to work with.  And the colors - always beautiful!  I also used Aurifil 50 weight thread for the piecing and quilting of this quilt, I love the subtle look of quilting with it, and it's perfect for tiny seams because it lays so flat, even with the stitch length shortened for the foundation piecing.

I can't say that paper piecing in necessarily my favorite technique, but I found a couple things that do make it a bit easier.  I happened upon a video showing the Seam Allowance Guide from George Siciliano.  (It's a long video, but when I saw it, I knew I needed this ruler!)


I ordered it and used it to make this quilt, and it was super great!  It is so nice to have this one tool that you can use to fold your paper over, then make your cut with the ruler part.  Plus it can be used to cut 1/8 inch seams as well!  There is a bit of a learning curve with the cutting because of the thickness.  You do have to make sure to hold your rotary cutter straight and not angle the blade, because that will give you wonky cuts.  But I do love it, and probably will order the 12 inch quide soon.  The 8 inch guide was just barely big enough for some of the pieces in this quilt because of the weird angles.


The second thing I tried for the first time is June Tailor Foundation sheets.  They are a little spendy, but I really wanted something lighter than regular computer paper for this project.  I really did like using these sheets.  They are lightweight, you can see through them, which is very helpful, and they tear off easily.  I was skeptical about running them through my printer because they are so thin and kind of slippery, but they printed perfectly.  The package of 25 sheets will last me a while since I don't do a lot of paper piecing.  I was glad I had a good coupon to use, and it was nice not to have to wait for something to be shipped, so it was definitely convenient for me to be able to go pick them up at JoAnn's and start sewing right away.

Do you like making mini quilts?  Even if you don't like making them, surely you love seeing them!  Here is the list of Island Batik Ambassadors - you will love their Mini Madness posts, too.


I am linked up with Myra of BusyHandsQuilts for Finished or Not Friday as well - lots of fun projects, come join in!


Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
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Thursday, March 16, 2017

More Mini Blocks - Rolling Stone and Churn Dash

I've been so busy with other sewing that quilting has had to take a back seat this week, so sad!  I have been able to sneak in a little bit of time to make a couple more mini blocks for the #precisionpiecingqal, though!
 So darn cute!  The patterns are available from Hope's Quilt Designs  - they are so fun to make, and the instructions are really terrific and easy to follow.
 These are the units for the second block I made.  They are one inch square - before sewing them into the block!  That means they actually finish at 1/2 inch - that is teeny tiny!
Here is the finished Rolling Stone block.  One more block, then I'll put them together into a little quilt.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it will come out!  The nicest thing about these mini's is that they are really quick to quilt and bind.

If you want to join in, you still have time.  You don't need to make a whole project, just one block!  Visit QuiltShopGal for all the details.  There are some great prizes, too!  Plus that, making these little blocks is a great tuneup for your accuracy!

Back to installing zippers...I am nose to the grindstone to get these black dresses finished, we have a fitting on Tuesday!
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Thursday, June 02, 2016

Is It Really June Already?

I can hardly believe that May is gone and it's already June!  It didn't help that I caught a head cold and it kind of kicked the snot out of me...literally!  (Sorry for the bad pun, I just could not contain myself)  I am totally behind on everything right now, so need to do some catching up.

First of all, it's time to draw the winner for my Miniature Quilts Magazine giveaway!  Maryellen McCauliffe is the lucky lady - I'll e-mail for your address and get this magazine in the mail first thing tomorrow.  Maryellen is not only a fellow Quiltsy Team member on Etsy, but she also is the one that encouraged me to sign up as an Island Batik Ambassador.  She has had a rough few months so I'm sure this will brighten her day a bit.

I spent last week working on quilting this quilt top - a real scrappy and bright project with lots of crazy prints.  I used purple thread and added a purple binding because it's my clients favorite color!

This one was a bit of a challenge because the top was not very flat.  It is all hand pieced, and the blocks are supposed to be 18 inches, but you could tell there was a lot of easing going on as they were sewn together!  I quilted it with hearts and loops and am very pleased with the results.
The best part is that this won't be a top sitting in a drawer or on a shelf anymore.  It's a finished quilt, ready to be snuggled under, wrapped up in and loved!

I got an exciting message on instagram yesterday!  I am the winner of the #eq25 social media prize this month.  Don't forget to use the hashtag if you post a picture of a project - you could be a winner, too.  I'll be blogging more about that on the 10th of the month - I learned more about using the custom set tool and am excited to share about that.

Today I am doing some random sewing and thinking about what I would like to get done this month, so I'll save that for another post.  I've been continuing to work on my rag quilt project and have a big pile of sewn blocks, but lots more flannel to cut up!  There is a new Ambassador Challenge for Island Batik this month - modern quilts, so that will be fun.  I know what I am making, just have to get sewing...so I think I will leave you there for now and continue on.  Have a wonderful day - go get some sewing done, too!
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Monday, May 16, 2016

Playful Paper Piecing with Island Batik

May's Challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors was Playful Paper Piecing.  We had lots of options here - you could use foundation paper piecing or English Paper Piecing.  I chose to do a foundation paper piecing project, though I might throw out something using the other technique at the end of the month just for fun.  I chose to do a miniature, because for me making a small quilt is always a fun way to play!

I found some Miniature Quilts Magazines on the giveaway table at quilt guild this month and snapped them up with the intention of finding a project in one of them and giving my readers a chance to win the magazine.  After looking through them, I decided on a quick and fun little project using two foundation pieced sail boats.
All the fabrics I've chosen for this project are from the Sea Shore collection from Island Batik which are available now!  I hated to cut into my yardage of these, but for just a miniature you don't have to use too much, and I have plenty left over for more projects.  I love this collection, so many beautiful colors from pastel to dark and some lovely brights as well!

I meant to take more in progress photos, but these blocks are so quick to make that I had them both finished before I knew it!

I love the way the dark fabric looks like a wave under my boat!  And the shading of the color on the boat fabric...so perfect!  I didn't plan that at all, it just happened, but you can see how your fabric can add so much interest to a simple block!  Next I made two pinwheel blocks to go with the sailboats, then I had to choose a sashing fabric.
I love the netting look of this one, but it I thought it was too light.
 This is a fun print, but too crazy for this calm little quilt.
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This is the one I thought was just right - nice and dark to make the blocks pop with a subtle print (another colorway of that netting!).

After I added the sashing, I went through the same process to choose my border fabric and the binding.  I could have gone several ways, but these fabrics won out to finish my little sailboat quilt:



Quilting this was just too quick and easy.  a little outlining using stitch in the ditch and a swirl around the border, easy-peasy and fun as can be!  The binding was sewn on and before I knew it, this little quilt was complete!
It measures in at 14 inches square, and I used Warm and Natural Batting, a variety of Aurifil threads (for both the piecing and the quilting) and a random fat quarter from my stash for the backing.  And of course those beautiful Island Batik fabrics for the front!


Such a fun little quilt!  I think it's a lot prettier than the one in the magazine!

 I love the sunny yellow print in the pinwheel.

It's not much bigger than the magazine is!  You can see there are some lovely projects in this edition.  Wouldn't the tie quilt be fun for Father's Day?  I love the basket quilt as well.
 Since I have another copy of this magazine, I want to share this one with one of you!
If you've never made a miniature, this is a great way to start.  Or just drool over the the beautiful pictures!  I'll be giving this away at the end of the month, so go ahead and share with your friends!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you check out the other Ambassador blogs to see what kind of playful projects they are making this month!

I hope you get lots of ideas on how you can have fun and PLAY with some paper piecing!
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