The Last Mini Quilt for 2021

 

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas

and a happy holiday.

Now we switch gears and 

it's time to start a new year.

But until January gets too

far ahead I need to share 

my 2021 December mini.

My latest mini is reflective of the season

in the classic color combination

of reds and greens.

Christmas Poinsettias

30" x 30"

2021

This pattern was inspired by Kim Diehl 

from her book

Simple Whatnots II

Kim has also provided this as a free pattern

from Henry Glass Fabrics.

This quilt was a good combination

of pieced flowers and appliqued stems and leaves.

It was also a nice way to use

some of those reds and greens 

I've been collecting.

I few fluttering snowflakes

would be perfect to showcase 

this fun holiday quilt,

but nothing yet.

I kept the machine quilting simple by outlining the 

flowers along with a few feathers and

then a simple loopy design in the border.

I dug around for awhile

looking for a backing and finally decided

on this fabric.

Well, this is really an oldie.  I bought it in

1974 and made bedroom curtains!

Some of you may recognize it as one of

the timely calico prints from Ely and Walker.

The company printing this design and several others

for a long time even up through the 70's.

Ely and Walker Dry Goods started manufacturing fabric in

1855 in St. Louis.

Maybe, without realizing it,

I have started a  

 Red and Green Christmas series.

2021                                       2019                              2020

I'll have to keep that in mind when

December, 2022 rolls around.

Maybe you're ready to join in 

making a monthly mini coordinated by

Wendy, the Constant Quilter,

 and her quilty mini-ettes as we march into 2022.

Time to get stitching.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

March's Mini

I'm imagining that many us save 

photographs of quilts.

Maybe it's a design we like,

or a color combination that's interesting,

or the quilt just speaks to you.

For my March mini I decided

to take a look at the photos I'd been saving.

I used this quilt

which appears to be from the collection of the 

International Quilt Museum.

(Sometimes it's hard to follow the trail)

 I found the image on Pinterest.

Here's my interpretation.

Rocky Mountain Snow Keeps Fallen

17" x 24"

A couple weekends ago when we had our 

"Big Snow",

I found myself looking for something to do

rather than volunteering to go shovel.

I remembered the quilt photo I had saved,

and began digging in the stash for fabrics. 

I hadn't used many of my stripes and plaids for a while

so it was fun to reconnect with many of my favorites. 

One thing that appealed to me about the original quilt,

besides the use of the color,

was the symmetry of the center.

It has a calming effect and 

a sense of order despite all

 the different fabrics.

Maybe the original quilter had strips

long enough to do the center in that fashion

and then had to piece the remaining rows.

I enjoyed the free use of the fabrics,

just adding pieces as I went. 

I added a little stripe as the binding and

did some hand quilting

down the center of each row.

Some ticking that I had

been saving was perfect for the backing.

It was a fun mini to make for March.

Be sure and check out the other Mini Makers

on Wendy's blog, the Constant Quilter.

It's fascinating and amazing how each participant

creates a unique little quilt each month.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

A January Finish!

 Since my "motivation fluctuation"

I have been focusing on

making 2 donation quilts.

"Wishes"

36" x 51"

The pattern was from Cluck, Cluck, Sew.

Lately, I've  have been inspired

by other bloggers.

I want to see

what quilts I can make with my stash

 that others would enjoy.

One thing that I have always

found as a barrier to making donation quilts

was finding appropriate patterns.

That may sound silly with so many

patterns available.  

 Maybe that is part of my problem,

too many choices or ideas.

I want a pattern that

would look good using the fabrics I've collected

over the years of quilt making.

I want one that would be easy, not

complicated or time consuming to sew.

An most importantly, I want 

 a design using colors and fabrics

someone else would like..

I know there are tons of ideas out there,

but when I happened to see this particular pattern,

I decided to quit fooling around and stop

making excuses.  

It was time to get sewing.

 It's one of those times 

when the right idea came along at the right time.

I could use some 2.5" strips with

 brighter colors.

I actually purchased the yellows.

Sometimes a stash needs a few new

reinforcements!

One way for me to be more efficient was 

to make two quilts at the same time.

Maybe they can be "sister" quilts.

One with a pink flange in the binding,

and the other with a purple flange.

Simple straight quilting 

finished these up quickly using some 

leftover pieces for the backings.

Now that I have some loosely defined criteria,

I'll see how quickly I can come up with plan #2. 

Until Next Time-

Kyle