Ever made a mini quilt?
 

Our quilt guild has an auction to sell mini-quilts during our Quilt Show (every other year). They said in our meeting this week that they needed some more, so I decided to give it a try.

I tell you, I have learned a lot. I have learned that I need to be VERY precise in both my 1/4 stitches and my ironing. I have also gotten very acquainted with my seam ripper. But it is kind of fun.

I started to make one, then didn't like how my fabrics looked together, so I turned one into two. And then my sister showed me a pattern I might want to try, and I did want to try...

So, here is where I am. I have one top finished and two on my design wall waiting to be finished. All three are purple, though the top right one looks deep blue in the picture.

They may not be true miniatures. I think those are supposed to be more traditional and complicated patterns, but maybe they will bring in a bit of money for the guild. :)

Dina

What I meant to ask was....if you have made a mini-quilt before, what size binding did you put on it? I normally use a 2 1/2 strip. Is that what I do here too?

Dina

i tend to prefer a narrower binding on small projects-including miniture quilts- i cut my fabric 2" instead of the (general 2 1/2") even on large quilts i usually only use 2- 2 1/4" binding strips- i just like them narrower. you don't want your binding to (over power or become a border) on your mini's.

I like them! I have heard that 1/8 inch seam is used on miniatures. Maybe that would be something to try. I've always wanted to make a mini storm at sea, so i purchased a lazer cut kit SAS at the John Flynn booth in Des Moines last year. Still on my to do list. ;)

Thanks to both of you. I will try both suggestions.

Dina

Love your quilts. I like the narrower border, too. I cut mine 2".

You might want to look at The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative at www.alzquilt.org
The sell small format quilts (no larger than 9" x 12") that are donated to finance Alzheimer's research.
The quilts are fantastic.

Sorry wrong web site - Should be www.alzquilts.org

I highly recommend Sally Collins Precision Piecing book or DVD. I took a class from her and well worth the time and effort.

Absolutely. She spoke at our guild a couple of years ago and it pushed me to do a miniature quilt for the guild silent auction. I'm glad I did it, but I don't know that I will do another one again. My quilt had 49 2" LeMoyne stars. It can be seen in this blog post I wrote. http://knitnoid.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/it-is-done/

Don't try to stitch with an 1/8" seam. Stitch with 1/4" seam -- use tweezers to hold the pieces together -- then trim the seams. And above all, don't think a miniature quilt will take less time than a full size quilt.

I opted for a 1/4" binding -- I think I did a single fold to eliminate bulk.