Tutorial: Lovely Squares Mini Quilt

As the name suggests, this mini quilt is all about squares. A very simple and quick step-by-step tutorial on how to sew your very own mini with tiny squares of your most favourite fabrics. This pattern does not require high level sewing skills and is suitable even for a beginner. Being a very symmetrical person, I really like the perfect match of all the squares and the stitches in this pattern and the ease with which you can connect all the squares together. OK, let's get started!

It's All About Minis Today

Ove the last two months I have made a few lovely mini quilts. There used to be time when I had no idea what to do with a mini, I did not even see a point in making one because they seemed to be simply useless to me. How wrong I was! There are so many things you can do with mini quilts. You can hang them on a wall to decorate your place or sewing room, you can use them as a place mat or a mug rug or even use it as a trivet and of course they make lovely gifts. I like using mine on our dining table under a vase with flowers or a small stack of books. I also enjoy using them as working mats while doing some hand sewing in the living room. I realised that the most important idea behind a mini quilt is trying new patterns, ideas, new challenging techniques and showcasing your skills and pretty fabrics and they are simply fun to work on.

Little Bunny's New Cot

This very special little Bunny came to live with us not that long ago. You see, the Christmas before last, while I was still pregnant, our not so little son decided that he wanted to get a special gift for his unborn baby brother. So he did. With his own money. We thought it was rather sweet. This little Bunny waited patiently for our very little baby boy to be born, and when he did, the Bunny came to the hospital and then back home with us. Since that time he's lived in our baby's cot.

So Sweet...

Little note... Oh, I am so excited! Come, have a look. I just finished this candy sweet piece. So much pink and so many tiny stitches. What do you think?

Sing a Rainbow

Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue... Which one is your favourite? Out of all the colours here, green, purple and orange really stand out for me. This is a tiny quilted wall hanging that can be used as a placemat as well - perfect for an afternoon cup of tea with a friend.

I like the happy colour combination and how the running writing around the flower turned out, and the way the binding accentuates the colours of petals. For this quilt I used a straight edge binding.

It still surprises me that while I am working on a project, everything seems fine but once it's finished, I see quite a few things that I wish I had done differently. I suppose it's an avoidable part of a hands-on learning experience. You can't perfect your technique if you don't experiment, if you don't try various ways of creating things. I believe there's always room for improvement and that's what makes it so enjoyable. 

Work in Progress: Rainbow or Maybe Not

Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too. Do you know this song? It inspired my current project. 

It all began with an idea of a rainbow applique. Then a few more ideas came to my mind (a little girl, a patch of grass, some clouds...), but after playing around with scraps of fabric on the floor, I ended up with something absolutely different and unexpected, as it happens quite often with me.

The only thing I know at the moment that it's going to be a mini quilt/wall hanging or a framed appliqué picture, have not decided yet which one. Have to see what the end result looks like to help me make up my mind. I love the process of creating, changing things as I go. It gives me more freedom and keeps my imagination going.

Funky Birds Mini Quilt

Here is the Funky Birds little mini. This is my first ever attempt at quilting and I have to say that the process was an absolute joy from the moment the idea came to my head to the very last stitch.

Being a complete novice at quilting, I did not even try attempting some fancy free motion quilting, instead I used simple straight lines around the edge of the quilt and added just a few french knots in the middle part.

The birds and the tree are done by hand using running stitch, backstitch, daisy stitch and french knots. I was a bit anxious at first, but as I kept working on this mini, the excitement took over and it all came together quite nicely. Even the binding was not that scary after all.

Work in Progress: Mini Quilt

Just a little sneak peek at what is on my work table at the moment. Two more birds from Funky Birds series are being used for this fun project - a mini quilt wall hanging.

Never before I used a printed fabric (white print on white) as a base for my stitching and I have to say that I like the look of it. This is going to be my first ever quilt so I am a bit nervous and excited at the same time about the whole process and the binding in particular. I am not using any tutorials, just creating/designing the stitching pattern and the quilt pattern as I go. It takes a bit more time because I have to stop and try out some new details that come to my mind but it gives me a lot of joy and satisfaction as well. Hopefully, I find enough time to finish the quilt in the next few days.