Is too small? I know several of you do the mini quilts etc. Hubby found a pattern that he wants me to make and several of the blocks are 1" cut. That is smaller than I have ever done. Any tips to working with pieces this small? I really want to make the quilt since he doesn't show my interest in my sewing and HE has picked this quilt out along with the colors. :shock:

Is there any way you could enlarge the whole pattern? A one inch block is gonna be really small by the time you add the seams. Some people can handle small pieces- not me! I don't like working with less that an inch and a half- which is 1 inch finished.

In my opinion THAT IS TOO SMALL. LOL. But then again, I have never sewed anything that small. I dont think my fingers are nimble enough and I definitely know my vision isnt' good enough to see that small. :) Good luck to you and I am sure someone will come on and have some good hints for you. :)

What is the finished size that you are going for? I've worked with 1" finished and I believe the one thing that has helped me is starch, starch and starch. Serious, give it a good starching and much easier to work with. Like Jane Q said, if the quilt is a small version of what you want, enlarge the block size. Could you tell us the pattern and maybe we could help.

Sounds like a dollhouse quilt. I've worked with pieces that started at 3/4" sq and ended at 1/4" when I did an Attic Windows quilt for my dollhouse, but I hand pieced them, I used a ruler and traced the seamlines onto the fabric so I had a seam line to follow, at that size you have to be pretty exact. I trimmed the seams after stitching them. Be careful what you use for a batt if you use one, because it can make it chunky. Either don't use any or just a thin layer of flannel or something similar.

Some of the people on here do miniature quilts and I'm sure they'll give you some expert advice. Mine were strictly amateur.

I did a quilt that used 120+ 6" Pennsylvania blocks that incorporated 16 1" pieces in each one and I nearly went mad doing it. I had to set up a production line and do it differently than the directions. Basically making the pieces bigger and trimming the mini portions to size after assembly.

Good luck!

a short stitch length. pin carefully and use a (scant) seam.
takes a little patience to work with the small pieces but once you get the hang of it- they go quickly because they are small.
i'm working on a (totally insane) quilt now- lots of itty bitty blocks.

I like minis - this is one I did for a four poster bed in a dolls house.

some folks who make mini's that small sew with the 1/4" but then trim them to 1/8". good luck. they are the ones that fascinated me the most when i visited the Paducah museum.

try to sew accurate 1/4 inch seams if you are off it will really show

Thank you all. It is actually a wall hanging that he picked out but the squares are 1" finished to 1/2". Sounds like some great advise to keep in mind while tackling this monster.

AWESOME!!


I love the mini's.... I collect anything mini, .... but I don't MAKE them... I have to too little sanity left as it is!

Watch your fingers! :)

That is a HUGE matchstick. Where did you find such a large matchstick? I would love to get one for my DH. :wink:

Patience, attention to detail and endurance .... and you'll be so proud at the end! :)

See if he'd like it a little larger maybe to use on his nightstand or somewhere like that.

I'm making a MAXI quilt out of MINI pieces. 200 blocks, over 2000 pieces ... a good deal of them are 1" cuts. And one of my bucket list projects (high on my list) is a mini pineapple - I was so inspiried by the Mini's I saw at the AQS museum. Got to try those!!

Some tips ...

Highly suggest pre-washing/drying especially if your working with fabrics from different manufacturers. With pieces that small the difference between 1% shrinkage and 1.5% shrinkage is going to greatly affect the finished block, and if you didn't pre-wash - you may not like the uneven shrinkage through the whole quilt.

STARCH! LOT'S AND LOTS OF STARCH!! I starch my fabric prior to cutting, and I starch each seam. Each of my blocks had been starched several times. The starch will help you keep your cuts straight and your seams even. When I started the project I didn't starch, then I "discovered" the benefits from the great people on this board and the ease of work and improvement of uniformity was dramatic.

Don't settle for "close enough" with your seam allowances. Every little bit will translate through the quilt.

Don't settle for "close enough" when matching seams either. See above.

Along the same line as above ... try not to have too much variation in the fabric that you choose. For example, Batiks are much lighter in weight and thickness than an Asian print for example. The problem with this is that your accurate 1/4" seam allowance is going to be different for every combination of different weights that you are using. Asian seamed to batik will require a different "scant 1/4" than a Batik to Batik.

Check the size and square with every seam. Honest.

Yes, it's a lot of work but I personally find it very rewarding to work with.

Have fun!!

Okay! made a few vey small quilts and it can be done. First use a fine thread. Silk is great for mini quilts. second, a short stitch length. Third, trim the seam allowance down to 1/8" after it is sewn. A challange, but worth it! There is a lot to learn from making mini's. Don't be discourgaged, just try it! Lots of good info from Doghousemom!

ROFL - You are so funny. I kept looking at how small those hexagons were and trying to figure out how in the world she made such a cute, small quilt for a doll house. Now, the "giant" matchsitck...explains it. ROTFL :lol: :lol:

Kind of like graduating from a 30 pc. puzzle to a 1500 pc. So challenging. Now I want to try one too. Thanks so much for this post Bmanmommy. Would love to see what you finsih for him. HUGS♥♥

I made a small wall hanging with very tiny squares and half square triangles some years ago. It was paper-pieced and though I found it figity, it was doable! I wasn't very experienced then. I'll bet you could do it....Do a block or two to test on (coasters maybe?).

lol...What is the size of your mini quilt? I am fascinated by the little quilts. There is a miniature quilt section, on this forum, for anyone who is interested.

I love minis. Another hint-press the seams open rather then one side.

I use the 1" all the time. I have a 1" template I use to cut them out with. If you'd like one just pm me.

What kind of pattern is it? If it uses a 4 patch you can sew pieces and then cut them down. I use shortcuts I developed to make this easier to do. But it would depend on what your pattern consists of.

I also sew strips together and then cut the strips to the size you need. I would use 1" strips and then after sewing three or four together then trim them lengthwise to the 1" or I trim one edge of two sets of strips and then join the two strip sets together. Afte that I trim one of them before adding another row of strips. I plan on doing a tutorial for this soon. so if it interests you let me know.

I manage the Miniature section in the topics list. So you can check out some of the threads there where you can find all the minis in one place.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/virtual...jsp?vsnum=1008

I've made a few minis. My tips would be:

1. paper piece. Accuracy is a MUST with such small pieces.
2. starch is your friend
3. use a lighter weight thread. I liked Superior's Bottom Line.
4. sew with a 1/4" seam, then trim to 1/8".

i really love to piece really small pieces, however I hand piece all my quilts. I've never had a problem.

I used to sew minis for my !" to !' dollhouses. I needed them so I did them but they were a pain I also thot they were too bulky.

Paper piecing is the best way to go with pieces so small.

This is the first and only miniature quilt I have made to date, so I'm not an expert. This was a president's challenge quilt at one of our guild's quilt shows. The president (lqs owner) gave us a fat eighth of one of the fabrics which we had to use in the quilt. I was surprised that I won second place when it was judged in the miniature category in our show.

The quilt is 11.5" x 14.5". It is made using the shadowed four patch. Each square is 1" and includes a half-square triangle, two small triangles, and a square. The hearts are all fussy cut.

In order to make the square I devised a way to make two at a time using larger pieces and then cut the squares to size. This WAS a challenge. I'm happy the way it turned out considering that it was my first miniature. I do have, however, much room for improvement. I'm sure starching the fabric would have helped with the piecing. Each block could also have been paper pieced. I have more to learn about making miniature quilts.

What is the pattern, maybe someone has made it before and can give you some tips on that particular pattern.

If you can make them in rows and subcut, that would be better. Other than that, I think I'd try to explain the difficulty in such small construction. Or you could take an interest in his job and ask him of he can't make an extra $10, 000 a year! LOL!

OMG -- I love your comment!! Laughed out loud!!

Yes, that is a little small to work with. Do you know how to redraft a pattern using graff (spelling?) paper, and enlarge it by half or double the size to 2"? I think you can google drafting and get some help in that area. Good luck, how this helps.

Personally I wouldn't use a 1" sq, too small for me. I like the idea of enlarging those particular blocks if that would work with the rest of the quilt.

Where did hubby find this pattern?

These are some of the things that I learned or found helpful when working with miniatures:

Very important: Choose high (color) contrast, small print fabrics
1. Pre-wash fabric
2. Press carefully, starching 2-3 times
3. 60/2 or Bottom Line thread
4. Paper-piece if you can - if not pin well
5. Use leaders and enders - single hole plate if possible.
6. Very accurate 1/4" seams
7. Use tweezers to pick up and guide your pieces under the needle (your feed-dogs may not like something that small)
8. Iron seams open (reduces bulk)and then cut down to 1/8"
9. Measure, measure, measure blocks as you go - but finger press - try not to iron as you go because it is really easy to distort such small block pieces.
10. Use thin batting or flannel

If you find you need to unsew a piece, be gentle those little pieces distort easiely - sometimes it is faster and better to recut and do a new piece.

Binding - mini's only need single fold binding (not really any wear and tear on those little guys) and cut your binding so that you end up with a narrower binding than normal in order to keep it in proportion to the size of the mini.

Have fun! Share your pattern if you can and you'll probably get even more suggestions or helpful hints.

Too small for me to do. Good Luck!

The quilted cow I did was all finished 1" squares .... and a lot of them had several pieces within. Finished size was 21x27 (if I remember correctly.)

It became a labour of love, and somewhat of a personal challenge. My patience, attention to detail and endurance grew throughout and I learned I could indeed do it ... and as a result, most anything I put my mind to.

Here's the link ...
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-114217-1.htm

Biggest thing to remember was I could not work on it unless I was in a good frame of mind and was totally with it!!! :)

So, don't hesitate about it ... take it on with no deadline and you'll be glad you did!



Note: I believe that OP has not stated whether this is a mini quilt or a regular quilt with some 1" pieces in it. Totally different in the possibilities.

I am amazed at the beautiful mini's some of you make.

I love doing minis, & I use the strip method if at all possible-usually the pattern does not give that info,but if it is all small squares-row after row-that method works

is there a good book on making minis that you all could recommend?