Mini Geese

I made another mini quilt for a friend! It's so cute, I want to keep it... think she'd mind? Heehee! I know she likes bright colours, so I asked her if there are any colours she doesn't particularly care for. She said, and I quote, "There are no bright colours I don't like". Right there, that's why we're friends :) haha!

For the geese, I pulled out some yummy brights in pinks, aquas, greens, oranges and yellows, and for the background I used some of my low volume prints so the brights would stand out.

The geese aren't too small... they finish at 1.5" by 3". I could've gone smaller but the thought of sewing them all together made my head hurt. It's already pretty fiddly at this size... you get to a point where you don't care if the points match anymore because you just want it to be done!

I put in some larger flying geese (Uh, dont' pay any attention to the wonky point at the top... seriously, don't) in the style of Lotje's gorgeous quilt. It's nothing quite as elaborate as hers, but it does give the quilt a little something extra, doesn't it? I managed to find a whole bunch of these Washi FQs at Joann's and bought every one that I could find. It just so happened that I'd already used a Washi print in the quilt!

I used some leftover Moda Dottie fabric in lime for the backing and binding. Love it, and I hope my friend loves it too. She's in Paris right now so I'll have to wait a whole week to give it to her!

Good Things, Small Packages

I finished the mini quilt for my friend! I'm hoping to gift to her sometime this weekend and hoping like hell she doesn't check my blog :) Pam, if you do... SURPRIIIIISE!!!

This cuteness was made from the Jo Morton fabrics I blogged about earlier, and I ended up deciding on Rita's economy blocks. Just way tinier. I believe Rita's finish at 5" and the ones I made finish at 2.75". Pretty sure my eyes hate me at this point. But honestly, they're not that difficult to make. The small pieces are a bit fiddly, but when you finish a block, you punch the air and do a little dance. No? Just me? Ah well.

I did a super simple crosshatch quilting and then used a brown sketch fabric for the binding. It's the only brown I had (and I don't even know why I have it...), and thankfully it was a good shade of brown for the quilt! The entire quilt finished at 13.75" by 16.5". Cute, huh? :)

Mini quilts are too much fun to make, and I wonder why I don't make more. You get to shrink a block down and test your skills, and you can have a finished quilt within a day or two. Well, sometimes. I still have a few mini quilt tops sitting in the closet, waiting for me to attend to them. They keep the baby / lap quilt tops company, I suppose hehe

Hexidaisy

LOOK AT WHAT CAME IN THE POST FOR MEEEEE!!!

My friend Terri made me this gorgeousness in return for me making her a mini quilt, and I'm totally dying. How amazing is it!?! She seriously knows me so well. Rainbow? Check. Hexagons? Check. Striped binding? Check. Text prints? Check. The bonus was that this is called Hexidaisy, and daisies are my favourite flower. I even have one tattooed on me! She didn't know that, I'm sure!

Loooooooook!!!

It's so perfect, I can't stand it. 

Terri, thank you for your wonderful gift, my friend :) You are awesomepants, and I mean it.

Mini Quilts Are Awesome

I finally finished that mini dresden rainbow quilt for my friend Terri!! I couldn't figure out how to quilt it, then it finally hit me... Lines down the seams! DUH. I used Aurifil so that it was nice and thin... I obviously can't stitch in the ditch properly. Shame.

I tried spiral quilting in the centre of the block... definitely going to have to try this on an entire quilt! It's a bit fiddly at the beginning, but it gets easier as you go on. Creates a really nice texture, even on this small bit. And because Terri's favourite colour is purple, I went with a solid purple for the binding. I'm so clever.

I hope this brightens up her sewing space! :)

And while we're on the subject of minis, I've completely forgotten to share the lovely little mini my lovely friend Christina gave me! It's one of her Ornate Mini Quilts and I love it! Orange? Yes. Grey? Yes. Dots? Yes! Thank you Christina :)

I Have Quilting ADD

Oh who are we kidding? I have ADD, period. I constantly have these ideas pop in my head and I MUST MAKE THE QUILT BLOCK NOW OR ELSE. 

Therefore, ADD + impatience = I've run out of design wall. 

Look at it. I have no space for anything and most of my walls have giant windows, so actual wall space is a precious commodity. The next house will have at least two giant walls without windows in my studio or I'll cry.

So on the wall I've got two New York Beauty blocks, two mini quilts appliqued onto backgrounds, one that needs to be appliqued, and one Spinning Stars test block in all solids. Now I like the solids.

And on the wall is a mini quilt Christina gifted me. That deserves a blog post all of its own :) The cross-stitch piece above it is something I did for my sister (that I need to mail to her!!!) and it too deserves its own post.

I had fabric all picked out for my Spinning Stars quilt, and these were just fabrics I had lying around on my table. Dammit. And I can't remember if those fabrics are Kona or Bella or what. I don't label things and I suffer for it.

And the mini quilt centre that needs to be appliqued is this one I did out of hexagons and half-hexagons. I pressed them a wee bit too much so they're all wrinkly, but those should sort themselves out when I've appliqued and quilted it. I hope.

All this sewing makes for a very pretty and colourful rubbish bin in the studio though :)

Mini Quilt Mania

I came home and decided that I'd hang out on the couch for a couple of days to recover from the amazingness of Sewing Summit. And because I'd go crazy not doing anything, plus I was so inspired by everyone and everything, I decided to make mini quilts :)

I really wanted to see what it'd be like to do all shapes one colour each. I think it came out pretty cool, if I do say so myself. I appliqued the ferris wheels to the background, which I couldn't decide on for ages because I couldn't decide between solid or print. I went with a dark solid, and possibly a print for the binding. Or a stripe. Or dots. Clearly, I fly by the seat of my pants when quilting.

And on the last evening of Sewing Summit, we sat at the bar chatting, and Terri decided she wanted to swap mini quilts. I have never, ever participated in swaps before. I've been in two bees, but that's been it.

I get so afraid that I won't make something good enough or anything that my swap partner would like. Plus I never know if I'll have time to make something I can be proud of. Time to quit that shit!

I decided to make a dresden plate because I've never made one before, and I thought it'd be fun to try. Plus Terri said she liked rainbow colours, so what better way to display the colours!! It's my first time doing anything rainbow too, so the colours may be a bit off. Like I'm noticing now the Pomegranate and Tomato are looking way too similar in the pictures. Should've gone with a darker red. YOU SEE! I do this constantly. I already re-appliqued the centre circle because it was off by a couple of degrees. I'm ridiculous, nice to meet you.

Anyway, I shall be quilting them in the next few days, I think :) Can't wait to show you!

And you might've spied my Chicopee New York Beauty blocks. I really need to get back to them but I'm kind of obsessed with mini quilts right now... maybe a couple more, then back to it? Yes? Okay? Cool.