Low Volume Swap

Time to catch up on posts!   

I've done a few swaps with the Mini QT group on Flickr recently.  One theme was low volume.  I LOVE low volume fabrics so I was looking forward to this one.

I decided to make a few Mini Raspberry Kisses blocks and play with placement.  Have you seen this pattern?  Its a free tutorial on Wooden Spoon Quilts blog. The block is 4.25 inches.  Michael Ann created a tutorial for an even smaller version - 2 inches. 

You can see the difference of sizes below.

I went with the teeny ones and created a 12 inch mini.

Had fun cutting in to my low volume stash.  I hand quilted this one.   

I made a Goody Goody Binding kit to go along with it as an extra.  This is the only picture I could find of it....and its the inside.  The outside had 3 of the larger Raspberry Kisses blocks. 

My partner loved them both.  Yay!

And this is the fun mini & goodies I got...she even sent along a toy for Miranda.

I love that there are so many wonderful free patterns/tutorials online.  I'll never run out of projects to try.  

Latest Minis swapped

My partner has received her mini so I can post pics now.  :)  This is for the Mini QT Swap group on Flickr that I belong to.  Its my favorite group!  Such sweet ladies who do great work.

Our theme was Monochromatic.  We couldn't tell our partners what color to use but we did give input into likes and dislikes.  My partner said she was loving gray right now so I went with that as I have a nice stash of it.

Here's what I made:

 The hexagon design I got from a Zen Chic pattern called "Hexagon Brilliance" and just sized them down to a mini size using the mini hex-n-more ruler.  

The pattern has the hexies in a random layout going horizontally.  I didn't like it in this mini size so arranged them this way.  I really like how it turned out.

And this is what my partner sent me:

I love it!!!   Its bright and happy and whimsical and small!  I really like my minis to be small.   The quilting is wonderful too.  My skills are all straight lines....someday maybe I'll be able to do this.  

Yay to another fun round of swapping with this group!

Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2015

Twice a year Amy Ellis hosts the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Its such a great time to blog hop and see some wonderful quilts and read inspiring stories.  I've only entered a quilt once before in 2012. You can see that quilt here.  Mostly I like to just see what others have done.  But I just finished a mini that I'm in love with so decided to enter the show!   

 So cute!  

Its a single 16 inch block from a quilt pattern called "Whirlygig" by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins. From their book called "Quilts with a Spin".

The center is hand appliqued. The circle of triangles is paper pieced. 

I am always saying how I don't enjoy paper piecing (and I don't) but I keep doing it!  Some things are just better done that way.  :)

I quilted in the ditch all around the applique and triangles.  Then did some circle quilting around the entire center.  

This mini is actually for a swap....so yea, I'm giving it away.  I sure hope my partner likes it cuz I really really love this one!

There are 12 categories in the Festival....mine is in the Mini group.  Go check them out:  Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2015,

January Block Mini

I occasionally swap mini quilts in the Mini QT Swap group I'm in on Flickr.  The gals in this group always do great work so I'm never nervous about swapping!  The theme for the one I just did was "Circles & Curves".  I picked the "January Block" by Lady Harvatine.  I've had my eye on the block for quite some time and this was a great time to try it out.

 The block is originally 12 inches.  I needed it to be smaller in order to fit our measurement requirements.  So I reduced it down to a 9 inch block.  I'm pretty comfortable with curves but still this was a challenge.  Slow sewing and pins were my friend!  

I also tried my hand at some spiral quilting.  Turned out pretty good.  

I made a Boxy pouch as an extra for her. First time making one of those too.  I used this tutorial from Pink Stitches.

My partner just got everything and loves it.  Happy dance!

House Mini

I joined a mini quilt swap via Instagram called "Home Sweet Home". My partner has gotten her mini so I can show it to you now.  I made two mini houses using the 2014  Row by Row pattern from Quilted Strait.  I love these little houses!  And I had fun fussy cutting for windows.  

And then since my partner liked light houses I had to add one of those too.

Here is the finished mini:

I embroidered her house number on the purple door - her favorite color (aqua is mine!).  I machine quilted in the ditch around each house and each section.  Then I added some hand quilting.  Here's a detail picture:

We were to add one mini item as an extra in our package.  I decided mini houses needed a mini mini quilt so I made one that measured 3x4 inches.  I forgot to take a picture of it all bound and quilted but here it is before I did that:

This was my first swap via Instagram.  My partner was silent through the whole thing which was disappointing but I had fun creating for her anyway.  Creating for swaps makes me stretch and I like that!

Mini Quilt Swap

I participated in the last round of swapping minis with the Mini QT Swap group on Flickr.  The theme was "Furry Purries". :)

Based on my partners mosaic and color preferences I made this mini for her.  Thankfully, Pam took a picture of it cuz I forgot to! 

Its some of the blocks from Elizabeth Hartman's pattern "The Cat Quilt".  So much scrappy cuteness.

You can't really tell in the picture, but I hand quilted around each cat in coordinating perle cotton.  

And Pam made this mini for me:

Can't even begin to say how much I love it!   So cute and so me.  Thanks, Pam!

This was a great round of swapping.