Sunday 18 November 2012

Mini-quilt!


 I am working on a group research project for my Fundamentals of Environmental Systems class, and it turns out the I have a bunch of slackers in my group. I'm the final editor for the paper and I've been waiting all weekend for any bits of work they might send me. And I have received nothing. This is an unexpected bonus for my free time, actually. While I should have been plugging away at a 15-page paper, I have returned to my sewing room - a place that has a few more spider webs in it since my last sewing session!

Though I haven't started to quilt the FMQ yet (that's my reward project after these two research papers are finished), I have been wondering what to do with all the tiny little scraps left over from its piecing.  I've had this project floating around in my brain for months. Even though I didn't think I would actually ever get to a postage-stamp quilt for all of the work it entails, it just seemed like a good way to wile away an hour of a crisp Saturday afternoon.

So I put on some relaxing Andrew Bird, and got to work. I thought every step of the process was beautiful, from the pleats created on the fusible interfacing, to the precision of the pressed seams on the back when it was finished.


Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial was pretty ingenius. The piecing on these tiny 1.5" squares is exactly precise and all corners meet up perfectly.


Even though the interfacing made the end result a little stiffer and thicker, it was just fine for the Barbie quilt it was intended for.


These multicolored frames are stunning!


In the end, I decided not to quilt it because it was so small that I didn't think quilting would allow it to drape over the edges of Isabella's little Barbie bed. I didn't even use binding for it either, I just added a backing fabric and left it simple.


I would love to do a bigger project with this technique. It was very time consuming, so it might be something I would consider doing with my scrap pile as it forms, rather than all at once. 


And there is it, the first little homemade Christmas present done. 

If I'm * lucky *, ha!, maybe my group will procrastinate some more so that I can move on to the next project. I have a feeling that the coming week is going to be a killer!

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