Mini Quilts from 1/2 squares
 

Well, I've fallen in love with mini quilts or doll quilts as some call them. Have pattern books by Jo Morton, Primitive Gatherings, and Kim Diehl. Most are made of half square triangles and can have a finished size for the square as small as 1 inch! I've used Triangles on a Roll for years, and have several different sizes of the rolls in stock in the sewing room, but usually end up with a couple that are finished smaller than the rest for some reason and need to be set aside. Now I find out that Primitive Gatherings has their own line of Triangle papers that are suppose to be really accurate. Has anyone used one or the other of these sewing aides and which do you prefer? I have a ton of Civil War prints/shirtings and thought I might make some of these mini scrappy quilts for a craft show. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Be sure to check out Kathleen Tracy, she has a least 6 books on small/wall/doll/mini quilts, mainly civil war fabrics. plus she has an online Small Quilt group.

2methods I use all the time now are Magic 8 that you use 2 squares ( there were a couple of free tutorials on craftsy but I haven't checked since they reorganized. And the strip tube method - used it recently to make about 400 hats with very little waste. I will try to find links.

www.quiltineering.com but I will add - use a scant 1/4 in and after sewing one side starch and press then sew second seam.

Good topic. I used to make minis years ago and would love to make another. I'll be watching this one. Thanks, Linda.

Strip tube HST - little waste
 

Here are the HSTs I made and didn't have to trim off the sides except one 'dogear' - made from jelly roll strips, and this is a drawing of the border I'm making with them. Like I mentioned previously, I used a scant 1/4" seam and starched the strips after the first seam was sewn.

I would only attempt a quilt like this if I were doing penance for some wrongdoing. Patience is not my strong point.

The link I gave you was not complete - try this one: http://www.quiltineering.com/hst-tut...p-tube-method/