Personal Challenge: A Mini A Month

I think I've fallen hard for mini quilts.  For someone who doesn't have as much time to sew as I'd like, they seem great.  And I've been trying really hard lately learn new things and try new techniques, and minis are a good way to do that without the frustration of a full sized quilt, and with less investment of time and resources.  I've done a few minis this year, and I have a whole mental list of patterns I want to do and new things I want to try.

I also have a very, very blank office wall.  So I have decided to attempt "a mini a month" for the next 12 months.  No pressure, really, but an attempt to focus on some smaller, achievable projects and expand my quilting horizons.

Third Quarter Finish Along: Report

I finished 7 projects in Quarter 3!  I'm thrilled!  And one was a UFO dating back to 2002 or 2003, so that is especially pleasing. 

Here's a recap of what I finished.

Sarah	Wall hanging	July 17
Winnie the Pooh quilt (project Linus)	Child size—ended up being FOUR quilts!	August 1
Paper Piecing project (Trees)	Bucket list/mini quilt	August 9
Pepper Tote	Bag	August 14
White/pastel dogwood quilt	Lap size	August 21
2 ½ inch strip I Spy quit	Child size	August 26
Elsa the Purple Elephant	Bucket list/wall hanging	August 29

October Goal

I've long wanted to do a mystery quilt.  When I finally wrote down my quilting bucket list, it was one of the first things on that list.  Quite by accident, I discovered one online I think in April, and it had just started.  Best of all, it used scraps, so there was no investment in new fabric for something unknown. Plus, most of the scraps were sizes that I already had cut.

It was the Scrap Dance quilt-along hosted by Carole at From My Carolina Home. The big reveal came in mid-September.  My top is now assembled, so my goal for October is to finish it.  I actually hope to finish it by October 15 because I'd like to enter it in the Scrap Quilt Challenge.

Linking up with Fiber of All Sorts for A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Finished! Purple Elephant

At some point in 2013, I was watching Fons & Porter and Mary Fons mentioned a Quilting Bucket List.  I had never thought about it in quite that way before, but shortly after that I made a list.  I'm not quite sure where it came from, but I added a ticker tape quilt to that list.  I had been seeing them around and thought the technique looked cool.

I used the elephant pattern from the book Scrap Happy Quilting.  I shrank the pattern down quite a bit.  I used a hodgepodge of ticker tape methods, mostly from online tutorials.  I did the embroidery outline of the elephant first, then I layered the quilt sandwich, so that when I sewed down the individual bits, it acted as quilting.  I felt like the ticker taping needed stronger white, so I did a satin stitch rather than a regular straight stitch around each piece.  You can actually see it better from the back:

The background is Kona Snow.  Everything else came from my purple bin.  The finished product is 14 inches by 16 inches.

This was on my Q3 list for the Finish Along hosted by Adrianne.  My original goal post is here.

September finish! Bonus gifts

As I Spy quilts are my current quilting obsession and have been for over two years, I occasionally host I Spy swaps. I'm just wrapping up my 5^th. During the 4^th, there was a shipping mishap. Two of the ladies affected by the mishap chose to stay in my current swap, even though the problem was completely my fault. I decided to make them each something extra to ship with their swap #5 goodies. I am pleased to say that in both cases, their lost packages did eventually arrive, but I am going to send them the extras anyway, mostly to show my appreciate in their sticking with me.

 I have had more communication with one lady (Colorado) than the other (Nebraska). Colorado is also very active on Flickr and does a lot of swaps, so I've seen several of her inspiration boards and have a bit of an idea of what she likes. Since I know she likes seasonal stuff and has a sense of whimsy, I made her this mini. It's from a pattern by Juliet of The Tartan Kiwi. I love it, and I plan to make one very similar for myself. The fabric is a little too directional for someone fairly new to paper piecing like me, but I'm pleased with it just the same.

I have very little information about Nebraska. Her flickr posts are only what she is submitting for I Spy swaps, and we've only communicated a little. So I made her a pouch. I figured pouches were fairly safe and liked by most people. This one is a boxy pouch from a youtube tutorial by The Crafty Gemini.

Finishing these bonus gifts was my mystery goal for September's A Lovely Year of Finishes. (I was number 78.)

Finished! I Spy Strip Quilt

While most of my I Spy obsession has gone into 5” squares, I cut a 2 ½ inch strip when I have just a little bit of leftover.  I’ve done a few Jelly Roll Race quilts with these leftover bits, but I’ve been looking for other options.  I saw a jelly roll quilt on display at one of my local quilt shops, and I sketched out a variation that I thought would work out for I Spy strips.

This is what I ended up with.  The solids are Kona Pond and Kona Pool. (That they are both water-related words was just a fun coincidence!)  This is an instance where I liked what was in my head better than what I produced, but I’m hoping it will make some kid happy. 

As a side note, I took this project with me in the piecing stages to a recent Project Linus meeting. There was a new participant there that night who had her 2 daughters with her—about to enter 1^st and 5^th grades (I think).  The girls, Samantha and Summer, came over to watch what I was doing and I had them tell me which strip to add next, so much of the order was decided by them. 

This was on my Q3 list for the Finish Along hosted by Adrianne.  Original project name was “2 ½ inch strip I Spy Quilt.”  Original goal list here.  

September Goal--It's a Mystery!

I am currently hosting an I Spy Strip swap, and several of my participants have done previous swaps with me.  In the last swap, I had a bit of a snafu.  I want to send something extra to the 2 ladies affected by the snafu. 

One of them I know a little better, so I'm making her a mini quilt.  I don't know the preferences of the other lady as well, so I'm thinking pouches, as they seem safe.  My September goal is to finish these extras.  I should be mailing about the end of September, so I should be able to post photos of the finished projects.

Linking up with Shanna and Melissa for A Lovely Year of Finishes.