Recently I have become addicted to mini quilts. They are so fun to make and they look adorable when they are finished. Minis make great wall or table decor, or are great for turning into pillows and can be made to match your home or coordinate with the current season. They are also great for gifts.
I love that I can start and finish the project it in the same day or weekend. They also use little fabric and are perfect for charm squares or scraps. There are so many different patterns available and they range in size and difficulty.
The first ones I did were a set of three barn blocks from a pattern on Moda Bakeshop. I used a charm pack of Meraki by Basic Grey plus some borders and background. These would be so fun out of fabric that matches your home for some neat decor!
A couple months ago Esther and I picked up this fun pattern from our wholesaler in Calgary.
I used Jen Kingwell fabric for this. This fabric was printed in 8 5” strips that run parallel to the selvedge. I needed 16 prints, so 2 .25m cuts of fabric was plenty.
Yesterday I started a mini pattern by Thimble Blossoms called Swoon. I chose a new Art Gallery Fusions called Printemps for this one and am loving the first block!
For my fourth mini I chose to do a Sew Kind Of Wonderful pattern called Mini Scope.
A mini is a great way to try out a new technique or improve on one that you haven’t done a lot of. It’s a small project and doesn’t take a lot of commitment in time or money, if you enjoy it you can always do a larger project later. One of my first minis ever was a paper piecing project, I wanted to try out the technique before I jumped into a big project. And I am doing the Sew Kind Of Wonderful mini to brush up on cutting and sewing curves again.Minis are also a good way to experiment with color combinations, different backgrounds, or a new fabric.
A few things that I have discovered while doing these minis is that accuracy is very important. With smaller pieces cutting your pieces even an 1/8" to big or small can affect the outcome. I like to use smaller rulers for the minis, and my 4.5" x 8.5" and 2.5"x6.5" got put to good use in these projects.
Pressing is also really important, and to reduce the bulk pressing open helped a lot. I used my strip stick often these past few weeks, along with starch and flatter. This combination gave me nice flat blocks, with few bulky seams.
Do you like making minis?
Kayla
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