I just love Alison Glass fabric and when I saw the signups for the Alison Glass Mini Swap on Instagram (#alisonglassminiquiltswap) it was a total no-brainer to sign up. It was also a good excuse to add more of her fabric to my stash. I already had a few pieces of yardage from her 2015 Sun Print line, but I bought a fat eighth set of the Sun Print 2015 Mercury. I first used them in this zipper pouch.
I decided I wanted to do something geometric and colorful and chose the Alternative pattern by Alison Glass. I sized it down to 50% which made 5 1/4” square finished blocks. This was perfect for a 3 x 3 grid of blocks (the finished quilt measures a bit larger than 16" square). The plus blocks are pieced and the X blocks are paper pieced. It went together really quickly once I made all my final color placement decisions. ;-)
As I've mentioned before, I like swaps for pushing me to try something new. This was the first time I've done dense straight light quilting. I used my walking foot, and my lines are slightly farther than 1/4" apart. I started from the middle and worked my way out. There was one section I didn't do this way (trying to keep the lines equally spaced) and I ended up with a little pucker in my fabric. :-/ Lesson learned. Have you done quilting like this (or even more dense straight lines)? Any tips?
And here's the slightly askew label. ;-)
Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap
#AGTeamTessellation
June 2015
TO: Claudia
FROM: Sarah Goer
@sarahmgoer
I also made a little zipper pouch to send along with the mini. I realized after the fact that I ended up with a bit of a + and x theme in this bundle. The pouch uses this tutorial from Make It Perfect. I fussy cut the text fabric to feature “love” and “happy” on the edges of the zipper top.
Here's the full pile of goodies that I sent to Claudia in North Carolina.
The funny thing is, before I finished and mailed the package to Claudia, I received my swap package in the mail... and it was from Claudia. What a surprise that we were making for each other. Here is the beautiful Preppy the Whale mini in Alison Glass Handcrafted that Claudia made for me! She also made the beautiful bowl that I drooled over when I saw her making it on IG. How delightful that it was for me! She spoiled me with a variety of other goodies as well!
Thanks for visiting!
I'm linking up at the Stash Bee June Linkup Party, Needle and Thread Thursday, TGIFF, and Finish It Up Friday.
This finish is one of my Q2 Finish Along goals. I'm linking up with the Q2 Finishes party.
Tish
I love this mini that you have created! It is so bright and fun. Now that I have seen your match stick quilting on it, I couldn't imagine it quilted any other way. I downloaded a Craftsy class on walking foot quilting and in it they suggested using painters tape or marking a few register lines to keep the lines spaced and straight. But honesty, your lines look great.
sarah
Post authorHi Tish. The other option I considered for quilting was graffiti quilting, but I wasn't sure how the recipient would feel about that. Painters tape is a great idea. I've used the walking foot on my last two minis (the most recent will be up on the blog later this week) and I've just kinda gone for it. On this one I used the edge of the foot up against the previous line to get "equal" spacing. I'm excited to do some more with the walking foot. Funny, since I basically stopped quilting quilts way back when until I learned how to free motion quilt. I also love the match stick quilting I've seen by others with a variety of thread colors. (I thought this project already had so much color that it probably wasn't the right time to try that!) Thanks for visiting!
Cheryl
This mini is great, I love the colors and the quilting.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Cheryl. I need to start making my minis farther in advance of the deadline so I can enjoy them a bit more before I send them off. ;-)
Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
When using my walking foot for quilting I always reduce the pressure on the walking foot from the default to help keep things from skewing and puckering and it has worked pretty well for me. I think the mini you made is lovely and the whales are such a fun mini to receive in return! :)
sarah
Post authorThank you, Yvonne! I'll keep that in mind next time I break out the walking foot. I love the whales. If I didn't love them so much, I might let my daughter hang the mini in her ocean themed room. ;-)
bo
This swap thing seems like fun!!
sarah
Post authorFun and addicting. Thanks for visiting, Bo.
Bernie @ Needle and Foot
Sarah, this is fantastic. I am such a fan of simple straight line quilting and yours looks gorgeous. How fun to have the partner thing going both ways, I wonder if that was an accident? Pretty nice either way.
sarah
Post authorI had been admiring straight line quilting around the blogs and IG and was excited to try it out. I'll definitely use it again. I might even go with denser lines. I worried that giving to each other was an accident. It might have been. But nobody has said anything to me. :-) Thanks for visiting!
Deb Chimes
Alison Glass fabric is hard to find down here in Tasmania, Australia but I think I might need to order me some! What gorgeous colours and a stunning mini quilt. Great job Sarah! The bowl you received is certainly drool worthy! I've never participated in a swap but maybe it's something to try in the future.
sarah
Post authorThank you so much, Deb. I'm afraid I'm going to be really sad when this particular line is out of print. I might need to stock up. Definitely order yourself a generous amount. It's beautiful and it plays nice with others as well. Can't wait to see what you make!
Jessie Hansen
Popping over from the Q2FAL. Your finishes are all so fun! I'm not a fan of mini quilts but you make me want to be. Thanks for being inspiring!
sarah
Post authorHi Jessie. Thanks for visiting. It can sure make it faster to get things done if you're working on minis. I really like them for trying out new skills. I realized that I haven't finished a big project in Q2. I'll have to focus on some of my larger quilts in the coming months. :-)
Wendy
such a lovely mini you made for your partner, it's so colourful and I love the design.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Wendy. It may be the swap mini I've made that I miss most. Alison Glass fabrics are so vibrant and happy. So easy to work with!
Wendy
It's all lovely Sarah - both what you made and what you received.
*Visiting as a member of the official 2015 Finish-Along cheerleading squad*
sarah
Post authorThanks for all the blog love today! :-)