The Making of a Mini

Mini quilts, for me, have always been those adorable li’l things that you like to look at and enjoy but never dream of making. Didn’t think the precision and patience required to make a mini would be up my alley. But all that changed with the August challenge of DesiQuilters, a fabulous Facebook group of happy quilters, I belong to. Each month a new challenge is thought up to help us push the boundaries of our capabilities, learn new techniques and think out of the box to come up with creative and innovative entries.

This month the DQ (Desi Quilters) challenge was  to test the participants' skill in reducing a pattern to a miniature.
- Make a mini not bigger than 12"x12", using pieces not bigger than 1.5" finished.
- Colours to be used -  the Indian flag colors  -  saffron, white and green only (in view of the Indian Independence day on 15^th Aug).

So I set about deciding a pattern. Tulips have loong been on my wish list of ‘patterns to try’. I googled ‘tulips’ and came up with this clear tutorial on about.com…tweaked the measurements to suit the challenge rules and was ready to roll. Have to mention here, that a tip shared by Tina (in her blog post), about using fusible paper as stabiliser, was invaluable when it came to cutting with precicion and getting even seams. Thank you Tina!

Started by fusing the stabiliser to the back of each of the fabrics (roughly the size of a fat eighth) – white, saffron and green. Then cutting it up, to the miniscule sizes required, was a breeze.

 

    The fabric all cut up –

Wide saffron and white strips for HSTs

Green and white strip pieced and then cut

Teeny tinies all ready to be assembled!

                                           

 

                              

2" tulip blocks put together 

 

 

 



 

Playing with the layout!

 

 

 

 

Pieced, quilted and bound!

 

 

 

 

Tada !

My 10.5"sq baby :)

 

 

 

And last but certainly not least, my friendship with Jack (the ripper) was renewed in a big way, as I kept sewing the stabiliser backed white fabric right side up! Thank you Jack....what would I do without you?!

 

 





 

Will I be making more minis? Sure...after a breather ofcourse! :)                                                            

 

Until next time...good bye!!

 

 

The Journey of a Thousand Miles.......

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!

                                                                                        Lao-tzu

But dear Lao-tzu, how hard it is, taking that single step!! So here goes… deep breath….plunge (pit pat rather J )...and with that dear readers, I take my first hesitant baby step into the world of quilting blogs!!

The needle and thread have my been my best friends for as long as I remember and many happy hours  were spent ‘playing’ with the  ‘pair’ J  Needlework has always been therapeutic  and I’ve  found much joy and comfort, dabbling in embroidery, patchwork and even a bit of crochet every now and then.  But with quitling I found my passion…to the extent that I dream quilts!! And with quilting, my addiction to fabric was born…or was it the other way around?!! Ne’ertheless here I am pounding away on the computer abt my quilting journey…and it’s almost time for lunch (that I haven’t cooked yet, so I’d better hurry)! What can I say…quilty as charged!!

Leaving you with a picture of my most recent 'creation', a mini quilt (10.5”sq), that I shall blog about sooon.

Ciao!