My next mini swap in the queue is the Home Sweet Home Mini Quilt Swap. The shipping deadline is Wednesday. Eek. So this is not only a September goal, it's a 72-hour goal. Luckily, I've got some time in my schedule to sew sew sew today and tomorrow.
This is the first swap I've been in that we've been assigned partners and we're making for each other. I generally am so excited about what I'm making that I show it off while it's in progress, since nobody knows who will be receiving it. This time, I'm making for Brittany and she knows it. (And she's making for me.) So, I'm not showing much along the way. In fact, this glimpse below is all anyone will see before Brittany receives her package.
I designed my mini and included one pieced curve (gasp!). Since I'd never done this, job one was to figure that out. I cut pieces from my hand-drawn templates and then pinned the heck out of it. I think it was a mistake to piece it with the outer curve on the bottom. It was a puckered mess when I finished. Oops.
I shared on Instagram and Amanda and Jessica both recommended Leanne's curve sewing tutorial. Oh my gosh! Game changer. I never would have attempted to pieces a curve without pins, but her short video illustrated it beautifully. Here's the result of my second attempt. No pins were used in the making of this one.
Overall I'm happy with it, but it is just a smidge shy of the intended size. I made one more (oh, cause I've decided to make this mini twice, one for Brittany and one for me) and cut my pieces larger than necessary so I could trim down to 2" by 3.5". (Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to the position of the shape of the fabric as much as to the pattern on it when trimming, so it's not quite symmetrical, but I think it'll be fine.) Here's my third curve.
Now on to all my straight seems. Stay tuned for my big finish after it reaches its destination. And after that I'll be wanting to sew all the curves! This little piece and Leanne's tutorial opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Once again I'm glad I've used a mini swap to push myself beyond my normal quilting skills.
Do you participate in quilt (or other craft) swaps? What's your favorite part?
Linking up to ALYoF September Goal Party.
sew surprising
Ohhhh Im about to tackle some improv circles, when current project is finished, and I purchased the Curve Master foot and Ive had a play with it and its brilliant, no pins and easy as :) Look forward to seeing yours when you finish it as I am sure it will be stunning :)
sarah
Post authorJust looked up your Curve Master presser foot. Wow. That's quite a foot. I have a 1/4" foot, which certainly helps. The Curve Master foot look like it might be a little harder to accidentally get the edge of your fabric under the guide. Good luck on your curve project. This little section is my only curved seam in this project. I'll have to think on how I'd like to use curves in a future project. :-) Thanks for visiting.
Anja @ Anja Quilts
Good luck with your goal. You can do it!!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Anja!
Kitty Wilkin
Wow! That curve-sewing improvement is epic! Great job! I have participated in a couple of swaps, and I truly love working to make a gorgeous mini for my partner, trying to "stalk" them to get a sense of their style, choosing a quilt design from their inspiration boards, and making it happen. It truly is much more fun to give than to receive, especially when the recipient loves the mini as much as I do. Best of luck with this one! I like what I see so far :)
sarah
Post authorThank you so much, Kitty! It is so much fun to send off something you love and see that the recipient loves it as well. Now back to work... I've got to finish the quilt top tonight (and maybe make the binding) so I can quilt and bind it tomorrow! :-)
Bernie
Love seeing the improvement in your curves -thanks for sharing your fails and successes! I will check out the tutorial. I have always just pinned curves so this looks interesting.
Hope you made good progress on the mini yesterday! Looking forward to seeing the finished project.
sarah
Post authorThanks, Bernie. I just tied A LOT of threads from quilting. Just the binding to get on and pop it in the mail tomorrow. Woo! :-)