string pieced

Enjoying the Sunshine

| terriaw

I don’t have a lot of progress to show for my weekend, except for this string-pieced mini quilt I started.

I cut up a lot of my Sis Boom fabric scraps into strips and started piecing them together to make another pillow cover. I love how colorful it’s turning out.

In between the piecing, we are enjoying a streak of sunshine around here, which is wonderful because it seems like we’ve had a gray winter so far.

As you can see, we still have a lot of snow on the ground in our yard.

I’m hoping all this sunshine will start melting those layers of snow. I am really starting to get the itch for spring, dreaming of seeing grass again and watching my bulbs start to peak up through the thawing ground. Hope you are enjoying your Valentine’s Day too!

A Darla-ing Finish Plus One

| terriaw

I’m so excited to report that I finally finished my Darla quilt this week!

I pieced together nine-patch blocks with 7-1/2 inch squares in between, and framed it with a white border. Then I quilted diagonal lines through each block going across the entire top. It seems like such an old-fashioned quilt with all those pastels and gingham. Quite girly, isn’t it?

I love how the back looks, with polka dots on either side of a center stripe of fabrics left over from the front.

I was wishing I had used a more contemporary quilt pattern with these fabrics, so I decided to make a matching pillow in a more modern pattern. To keep that girly feeling going, I added some pom-pom fringe. Now I like the pillow even better than the quilt! (sorry quilt)

I love string-pieced blocks because of the kaleidoscope effect they create, so this was a quick way to make a mini quilt with my left over Darla scraps. I might even have enough scraps to make another one. It was also another good way to practice my free-motion quilting skills, which went well on this piece.

It feels so good to have this one finished! Now I’m off to machine-quilt my Mod Girls quilt, which I can’t wait to use.

Mini Quilt Monday Contributions

| terriaw

I know, technically it’s not Monday anymore. But Monday was a holiday, so technically, today is my workday Monday. What better way to get back into the swing of things by sharing my new mini quilts.

I really love seeing all the mini quilt projects being created these days.  When I first learned how to quilt, I started with minis, which was quite fun.

Stars in the Snow mini-quilt(Stars in the Snow, made in 2000)

Here are my newest minis, which I finished over the weekend, and I love for the quilting practice and for using up scraps:

my three new mini quilts!The first mini is a string-pieced pattern, based on Rachel’s tutorial. I changed it slightly by using different widths of strips. I just love how this one turned out! I quilted about 1/4 inch from the seam of each string, and then a few random lines down the middle of a couple wider strips.

mini string pieced quilt(front)

back of string pieced mini quilt(back)

The second mini is a triangle-square block pattern, using scraps from my coin quilt. I love how this one turned out because I love these fabrics, especially with the clean, fresh white.

triangle square mini quilt(front)

back of triangle square mini(back)

The last mini is a disappearing nine-path using scraps from my Ava Rose quilt.

mini disappearing 9-patch(front)

back of disappearing 9-patch mini(a plain white backing to highlight my new free motion skills)

I am so happy with how each of these turned out, for different reasons. I either love the block, love the fabrics, or love the quilting. I have more ideas for future minis, so I’m off to play. Thanks for stopping by!