Sunday, August 28, 2022

Marvelous Minis Challenge with Island Batik

First, let me say I know you're surprised that it's before the end of the month.  Yes, my Mini is finished!  

This month, the Island Batik Ambassadors were asked to make a mini quilt.  Anything went, as long as it was less than 24" square.  If you've seen the others already shared, you'll notice a wide variety of projects, from small quilts to clocks, with piecing, applique and a little fun stitching, and lots of great quilting.  

In my case, I've had a few challenges shared by my quilt guilds, too.  One was for a mini, using yellow and blue, and to measure 20" square.  So, I thought a bit, and decided to use some of the remaining fabric from the Petals Provence collection I used last November for the large Storm at Sea quilt. I used the Accuquilt GO! Storm at Sea BOB die for that, but the blocks would have been way to large for a mini.  Most minis require the blocks to be under 4'.  So, I went to EQ8 and played with a few designs, but the best one was to use the Storm at Sea blocks.  To get the design similar to the large quilt, I needed an uneven number of larger blocks, with sashing (the diamonds and small square in a square blocks) around the larger square in a square.  


The measurements for the number of squares, plus a small border, would mean that the pieces needed to be done on foundation paper, because they finish in 1/8" increments.  I enjoy this technique, as it makes piecing pretty easy, once you get the hang of the process.  I've even experimented with the "not sew on the paper" style, but felt that the smallest pieces in this would not be the best I could do unless I actually used the foundation.  The smaller square will finish at 1 5/8" and have 9 pieces.  The inner Almond triangles start as a 2" square cut on each diagonal, and are trimmed after sewing.  Tiny!! 

So, set up the machine with good thread, a Schmetz Chrome needle, a clear view foot that has a little red arrow (to help find the line on the paper) and use a business card to fold the paper on the stitching lines.  Have a wooden iron to press the pieces back, a pair of small snips that also cut fabric handy to trim some of the seams smaller, my Add a Quarter ruler, small cutting mat, and 28mm rotary cutter.  I set my stitch length to 1.7, so it's easier to pull off the paper and the seams are secure.  Connie Kauffman's book was great in teaching me how to do this.  

I was so happy when I had more than half of the quilt pieced.  
177 Pieces down, 168 to go.  The 168 were only the outer diamonds and small squares.  The large blocks were done!  The challenge was to use the scraps and get the colors to radiate the way I wanted.  Most of the darkest blues were used in the large quilt.  


I placed a piece of Island Batik Solid White on my Long Arm, Handi-Quilter Amara, and decided to use Raindrops on Water panto for quilting.  I loaded in Aurifil 40-3 in a blue variegated, with pale grey in the bobbin, and set up the design.  


Heather enjoyed getting her photo taken with the mini quilt.  She's now about 7 months old.  
US Penny for scale. 
Did you notice the penny again?

I also decided to show the difference between the first Storm at Sea, also known as After the Storm (the sun shines, with blue skies), and the new mini version. 
72" square vs 20" square


I did have a scrap of the Faux Piped Binding from the first one, so added more to use it again.  

Details:  Measures 20" square.  Uses 345 pieces of fabric to make the blocks, plus borders. 
Aurifil thread used for piecing and quilting.  
Carol Doak foundation Paper.  
The Prairie Spirit Alpaca pressing mat made the final blocks super flat, which is important in such a small, piece and seam heavy, project.  
Hobb's Heirloom Bleached cotton batting inside.  
Although the blocks are small, it still took about 12 hours to piece.  I added a hanging sleeve to the back for display at the quilt show.  I'll let you know if it wins president's choice.  After the Storm is also entered.  

Thanks so much for stopping by to read about my project.  Please check out the other Ambassador projects, too. 

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
Megan Best ~ Bestquilter
Pamela Boatright ~ Pamelaquilts
Elizabeth DeCroos ~ Epida Studio
Jennifer Fulton ~ Inquiring Quilter
Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts
Reed Johnson ~ Blue Bear Quilts
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
Denise Looney ~ For The Love Of Geese
Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine
Anorina Morris – sameliasmum.com
Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion
Claudia Porter ~ Create with Claudia
Gail Renna ~ Quilt Haven Threads
Brianna Roberts ~ Sew Cute And Quirky
Michelle Roberts ~ Creative Blonde
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail
Andi Stanfield ~ True Blue Quilts
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt

Maryellen

4 comments:

Carol Ethier said...

Beautiful mini, MaryEllen!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas said...

It's a fantastic companion to the larger Storm at Sea you made! I love them both. It's fun to see them together. Have a lovely day!

Kathleen said...

I love that you made a mini of your larger quilt! I totally agree that you are more precise with paper piecing when using the traditional method and for these small pieces you needed it. It is just gorgeous. Your puppy is growing and gorgeous, too.

Brenda @ Songbird Designs said...

Wow! They are both beautiful, Maryellen...and Heather is a cutie too!