Another month, another mini

Here's the August instalment for the Fresh Mini Quilt Club, called North Star. I love this one! I'm partial to stars and this fabric collection - Arcadia by Sarah Watson - has such pretty designs in soothing colours.

It came together quickly, and I learned a new technique - quarter square triangles. The pattern suggested starting with a light fabric in the centre and getting darker to the points of the stars, but I went the other way to fussy cut this flower and bee. Cute! I also used the white near the centre, rather than the suggested background fabric because I didn't want to muddy the crisp star fabrics.

My mom aptly said it reminds her of a lacy doily. I think this one will become a pillow to make it a bit more practical, especially since I seem to be churning out these minis.

Quilt-along fun

Quilting just got even better! I joined my first quilt-along and it was so much fun. It was great following everyone's progress on Instagram - there are so many talented quilters out there! I love, love, love this one in particular made with Cotton + Steel, primarily the basics. It's perfection!

Here's my finished mini basking in the sun on my front steps:

I settled on simple diagonal line quilting, with orange on the top and pink on the back. The pattern was Sea Breeze by Canoe Ridge Creations. This is probably the first time I altered a pattern, and it worked out perfectly to preserve the birds and flowers. It was amazing to see the elaborate patterns some of the quilt-alongers developed in their minis. I really want to make this one again and push myself a bit more.

The two-week deadline certainly kept me going. I ran out of steam a bit at the end and instead of piecing a back with the fabrics I used for the top, I grabbed Amy Butler Soul Blossoms yardage I had in my stash (snagged at a crazy good sale for $4 a metre!). It goes so well with Heather Bailey's Up Parasol on the front.

While it was a virtual quilt-along, I did have some helpers at home to encourage me along the way. Here's my borzoi Alexi checking on my progress. (And giving me a look of exasperation as she wonders if I'm ever going to leave the craft room and take her outside.)

And Aurora made sure all those piles of HSTs stayed in order while I was trimming.

The whole experience was so much fun and I'm eager to join other quilt-alongs. Host Gnome Angel posted interviews on her blog every morning with quilters who were making Sea Breeze minis, too. First thing in the morning I'd check her blog and Instagram for the latest #seabreezemqal photos. I may feel a bit adrift with my quilting now that it's done!

Be sure to check out Gnome Angel's link party to see all the amazing creations.

Portrait of a sleeping borzoi

The great thing about a smartphone is that you always have a camera handy to capture those fleeting moments. I happened to glance at my snoozing borzoi to see her very symmetrical placement of feet. I love this shot.

Shrinking heart

The heart mini quilt is all done and off to its new home with newlyweds. It's amazing how it shrinks from the first step with 3.5" squares to the end when you sew back together the 2.25" squares cut out with the template. But the result is oh so lovely!

I quilted it rather densely in a cross-hatch - taking quite some time at the machine even though the quilt is rather small. I think the effect is nice because it really softens stark reds and blacks. Plus I love the waffle-effect on the expanse of white background.

Up parasol!

Last weekend was quilting serendipity for me. Friends came to visit, bringing with them a lovely FQ bundle of Heather Bailey's Up Parasol as a thank-you. Then I stumbled on a quilt-along being hosted by Gnome Angel and the mini pattern she picked called for nine fabrics - just like in my bundle! Fabric fate!

With a two-week timeline for the quilt-along, I soon got cutting. I decided to change the pattern a bit to preserve the lovely birds, and then I figured I'd do the same for the flowers. Today I finished piecing the top and I love how it turned out. The fabrics are so bright and cheery and the birds are perfect.

I heart this quilt

A co-worker got married last weekend and a few days before someone mentioned her colours were white, red and black. Immediately my thought was that would make an amazing quilt. A quick Google search later and I found this tutorial for a twisting heart quilt. Nifty!

Red and black aren't colours I use often, so I dipped into my mom's abundant stash. When I showed her the pattern, she also had the template! I was just gonna make my own with paper, but boy did that template make the cutting a lot easier.

I sewed together a big heart block, then started cutting out the squares. I've never done this technique before and it sure produces a complex looking quilt in quite a simple way.

The only downside is all the waste. But since I used scraps to start with, I wasn't too bothered.

And voila! A pinwheel heart ready to sew together again. As I said, these are not at all colours I would normally use, but I sure do love how this is turning out.

Meet my mini mini

Here's my latest finish in the Fresh Mini Quilt Club, called X Mark. I started with some very bright floral fabric I picked up not long ago on sale and paired it with a more muted solid. I love this pattern, although it is deceptively simple looking. I quilted it with straight lines, some intersecting and some in a v-shape. Out of necessity I switched from green to fuchsia thread when the green ran out. Dense straight-line quilting sure uses a lot of thread. But I think it looks nice with the pink, which is surprisingly subtle.

Then I got a little crazy and made a mini of my mini! I had a bunch of HSTs leftover from trimming the flying geese and it was too tempting to make smaller Xs. So here's my version of the original, only smaller. I quilted this one with circles, which was a bit dizzying with the psychedelic flowers.

And here they are together, a mini and its mini. I'm really happy with how they turned out.