Tag Archives: mini quilt

10 Comments

I opted in to participate in the Riley Blake Creative Rockstar Challenge with the Modern Quilt Guild and received a package of the challenge fabrics. We were allowed to add additional fabric from the line as well as any Riley Blake solids. I opted to order the additional colorway of the Rockstar Rhythm print (with the triangles) as it was my favorite in the line. I love the geometric design. I also ordered solid black and grey and ultimately decided on the grey in order to emphasize the quilting.

In designing my quilt, I decided to feature the three different colorways and fussy cut to show an interesting section of the print. I planned my quilting to emulate the design from the fabric in a much larger scale. I achieved this quilting motif by marking my fabric.

I used a straight edge to draw the different sized triangles and then stitched approximately 1/8” on each side of the lines. There were a lot of threads to bury, but I’m very happy with the results.

I had just enough leftover from my pieced strips from the quilt top to be able to piece them in to the binding to extend the quilt top design onto the binding.

I completed my 16" x 16" quilt a full week before the deadline (Shocker, I know!) and submitted it to the MQG challenge. Winners are supposed to be announced this month.

I love seeing all the different takes on the challenge. There are quite a variety of styles! You can check out other entries at #mqgfabricchallenge on Instagram.

10 Comments

This week's final Project QUILTING challenge of the season was "Time Is Up." My initial thought was that I wanted to make a sundial quilt. I opted for a minimalist representation and started with a couple improv pieced curves before adding the triangular "dial" by machine appliqué. I used my free-motion quilting to embellish the design with the clock tick marks and the shadow. My mini quilt finished at 9" x 9".

A great big thank you to Kim (Host) and Trish (Challenge Designer) for a fun season of challenges. It was my first time participating, and I'm wiped out, but I'm really glad that I set aside the time and made it a priority to participate in all six weeks. My two favorite quilts that I made for this season's challenges were for the Tuned Into Texture and Brighter the Better challenges.

I'm linking up to Project Quilting Challenge 6. Voting starts at noon Central time on Sunday. You can check out all the entries and vote on your favorites. (Mine is #82.)

12 Comments

This week's challenge for Project QUILTING was "well-dressed man." On Tuesday, the kids and I made a trip to Goodwill in search for an inspiring men's jacket. I was interested in a jacket with elbow patches (which this one didn't have) and interesting buttons. I just couldn't resist this plaid jacket! And it had a great solid blue lining, too. We chose a tie to go with it. At the register the man helping us commented that "dad [was] getting a new jacket" and my kids prompted corrected him that it was for me. I laughed and said that I was going to make it into a quilt. He chuckled, then asked if I was serious. I explained the challenge and he asked if I'd bring in my finished quilt to show him.

I knew that I wanted to highlight some of the features of the jacket, but I didn't really have a plan for the construction of my quilt.

I finally got to work deconstructing the jacket on Friday night.

I cut out some sections that I liked, but didn't get back to my sewing machine until almost 10pm on Saturday. With about 12 hours left in the challenge, I knew I had to take my friend Mel's advise and work small. I edited down my initial ideas and decided on making the blocks even smaller than I'd planned. One feature that I liked was the section from the front of the jacket that had the full pocket. When I decided to make my blocks smaller, it eliminated the possibility of using it as a block. Then I realized if I trimmed my blocks down to 4.5" finished squares I could use the pocket as my backing. I used a remnant piece of batting and bound my quilt with the tie (deconstructed to only be the top layer of fabric).

In the end my mini took me about 2 1/2 hours to sew and finish. The solid blue is the jacket lining fabric. My blocks feature the tie, the cuff of one sleeve with buttons, a section of the inside where the lining met the plaid fabric, and the bottom corner edge of the jacket. The section from the interior was just cut out and used as is, and I machine appliqued the other three blocks.

Here's the back with the pocket.

I loved this section of the inner lining. The plaid edge you see was the detail on the interior breast pocket. Early on I knew I was going to use it. Mel suggested I use it for my label, but I thought I might feature it on the front before I decided to work even smaller than planned. Once I decided on the smaller size, I knew it would make a fun label. I opted to finish it and tuck it into the pocket on the back.

I'm linking up to Persimmon Dreams for the Project QUILTING Well-Dressed Man Challenge.

Voting is open over on Persimmon Dreams. You may vote for your EIGHT favorites. You can find me at #51.