Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Week 20 - Mini Mini Quilt Swap

Last fall I started noticing that some of the folks that I follow on Instagram were moving beyond the giant 1000-person random swaps and setting up their own, between individuals.

Kitty (https://nightquilter.com/) was the first to explain the swap to me and we agreed to swap mini minis with each other. The main restriction was to keep things under 6" (ish) and to do what inspired you. I had met Kitty last year at QuiltCon when I was looking for a few remaining Carolyn Friedlander prints to complete my Aerial Grover (regular-sized). She was nice enough to bring fabric to a perfect stranger, for the price of a knowledge swap (**Remind me to talk about trades later this week!**).

For the mini mini swap, I wanted to make something to recognize our meeting. Also, I tend to go a little overboard when it comes to new things, so why not make a mini mini aerial grove?



I fussy cut some of my favourite fabrics into squares somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2", curved the corners a bit and basted them on.

 

Then I spent all day, with some silk thread, and needle-turn appliqued each one.

You'd think that would be enough to turn me off tiny, but it just started me going. I wanted to make more. So I did. These things are addictive.


I put a call out on Instagram asking if anyone wanted to trade with me, got a handful of responses, and kept making some favourite blocks tiny.

[Patterns used -- 
top right: Forest Floor by Lilly Ella ; 

They were far from perfect. The stitches showed (though a little less once I started piecing with silk thread), the points didn't all line up. But I didn't care. I was smitten, and so proud of what could be made as small as possible.

[Pattern -- Double Goosed by Jeli Quilts]

It was a great way to test out new patterns that I wasn't sure I needed as a mini or a regular-sized quilt. But it kept me sewing and stretching my skills just a little bit further.


[Pattern -- Cassette Tape by Lysa Flower]

By the end I was winding down, and ended up repurposing some sample blocks that I had in the back of my closet. I was ready to move onto bigger projects.



I'd recommend trying to make a tiny quilt. It takes an evening, and perhaps some giggling (yes my husband thought I was crazy giggling to myself in my sewing room -- but, sooo cuuuuute and teeny), but it's quite a bit of fun. And I now have a little mosaic of quilts from artists I admire from around the world. 

Have a look at the #miniminiquiltswap and #miniminiquilt hashtags on Instagram and tell me you're not tempted.



Post by Becca, Week #20:

Librarian, quilter, and transportation cyclist in Alberta, Canada. You can find Becca on instagram or on twitter.



5 comments:

  1. Your minis look amazing! how fun! Do you piece them all by hand, by machine or a combination?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Veronique. They were mostly machine pieced (and mostly paper pieced at that), except for the aerial grove, which was hand appliqued.

      Delete
  2. My favorite part is the giggling!!! It's so absurd, but I've only hit my "ok, this is a bit too small" wall with one mini mini (I FPPed it and had way too many seams joining in the middle). I somewhat salvaged it with trapunto-style stuffing, and it will be mailed (and blogged) eventually! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes! That is the perfect way to describe it. It's so ridiculous, but then you go ahead and make the next one (and the next one) anyway. I have a couple where I just went too small and they couldn't be salvaged, so good on you for making it work!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You always can publish online assignment help
    something absorbing that does not waste minutes of your life like what you see on countless other sites. This is very interesting and I will be back for more. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete