Kaleidoscope Mini Quilt

I just love miniature quilts and can't get enough of looking at them online.  I recently picked up a miniature quilt book, Teeny-Tiny Quilts by Donna Lynn Thomas, and got a lot of good tips for working at a small scale.  I've also been attracted to the kaleidoscope quilts and made one years ago using foundation paper piecing.  That quilt is still one of my favorites and I keep it on display.

The new color strategy with kaleidoscope quilts is wonderful, adopting a mandala theme, so I tackled another.  This one I decided to do on a very small scale and using English paper piecing.  English paper piecing is not new to me, having made two throw-sized quilts in recent years, a traditional hexagon and stars quilt and the more complicated La Passacaglia quilt made popular by Willyne Hammerstein with her first in the Millefiori series.

This quilt is roughly 19 x 19 inches, so definitely in the miniature quilt category.  English Paper Piecing has always been good for getting all of those tips lined up just right and on such a small scale it fit the bill.

I used supima cotton fabrics for the solids (light blue, med/dark blue, and dark brown) because I loved the sheen, but I won't do that again, especially at such a small scale.  The fabric is very prone to fraying, with lots of super fine threads (which is what gives it the sheen), but I don't think it adds enough to the finish product to be worth the hassle.

La Passacaglia - Quilt Complete (Named "Rondeau")

I'm so pleased to have completed my La Passacaglia quilt based on the design on the cover of Willyne Hammerstein's book Millefiori Quilts, an ingenious pentagon-based pattern.  I made mine using English Paper Piecing and, while she states that any method of assembly is fine, I cannot imagine trying to do this any other way.  All of those pieces coming together at a variety of angles would be a disaster for me if I tried to do this using other methods.

La Passacaglia Quilt - named "Rondeau"

La Passacaglia - Quilt Top Complete

I started working on this quilt in early 2016 (see my progress), and now the quilt top is complete!  I just love it, but my husband seems to be obsessed with knowing how many little pieces there are.  I just refuse to figure it out, but he guesstimates 2,500 pieces.  So, now it is done and I'll be pondering how I'll quilt it.  I'm trying to not overthink it and go with a large meandering or large swirl quilting pattern, or maybe something like concentric circles that mirror each rosette.  Check back to see what I settle on.  It should be soon; I already have the quilt binding (solid black) ready to go.

La Passacaglia Quilt - Top Complete

Pin Wheels and Windmills - Japanese Taupe

I don't even know how long ago I started working on this quilt, but I was inspired by the pictures on the Pink Caramel blog.  The blog post does give much information, but I loved the intertwined windmills, as well as the Japanese taupes.  I can't even say I started working on it with the end goal of making a quilt.  Here's the story of how it came together.

Windmills and French Knots

La Passacaglia Quilt: More Progress

I have more progress to share on my La Passacaglia quilt top that I'm working on using the designs in the awesome book Millefiori Quilts by Willyne Hammerstein.  I am down to the partial rounds that go around the edges, so I feel like I'm getting close.  But, I keep reminding myself that when I got started I was just going to play around with this technique.  I'll get there before I know it.

La Passacaglia Quilt

La Pasacaglia Quilt: Three More Rounds

I took stock today of my progress on the La Pasacaglia quilt rounds and realized that I'm quite behind on sharing my latest completed items.  Since my last post, I have three more rounds complete and have officially reached an edge!

La Pasacaglia Quilt

Celestial Flora - English Paper Piecing Quilt Complete

The last time I shared progress on my first English Paper Piecing quilt, I had finished the center of the quilt.  Now the quilt is done!  I added a small border with a tiny checkboard theme, as well as a wonderful swirl fabric as a wider border.  I named the quilt "Celestial Flora", since it has a feel that is a cross between flowers and outer space.

Celestial Flora Quilt

The quilting isn't visible in this image, but the center is quilted with double lines at various angles.  The checkerboard elements are quilted with straight lines that go out into the outer border, both on the side and at the borders.  I duplicated the hexagon flowers on each corner and filled in between with medium sized swirl filler.

Needless to day, I'm hooked on English Paper Piecing since I'm now knee-deep into a La Pasacaglia quilt!

Below are some close-up pictures of some of the quilting detail.  The quilting was done with a standard home sewing machine using variegated embroidery thread in the center and monofilament thread on the border.

La Passacaglia Quilt: Ten Rounds Complete

I have now complete 10 rounds or rosettes for my La Passacaglia quilt.  I'm so enjoying this project, making no particular decisions from one round to the next except to try not to duplicate one I've already made.  Sometimes I'm surprised at how a choice turns out differently than I expected!

La Passacaglia quilt - Ten Rosettes

What do you do with your fabric scraps?

Sometime last year I started saving almost all of my fabric scraps.  So, you're probably thinking I mean anything larger than 2 or 3 inches, right?  Well, not quite!  Here's what I'm doing to recycle my left-over fabric scraps.

Fabric Scraps

Hourglass Baby Quilt for Baby Butler

I've always loved the hourglass block and the way it looks when assembled by alternating the direction of the block.  When I decided to make a baby quilt as a gift for a co-worker, this was the perfect opportunity to put it to use.

Samantha's T-Shirt Quilt - UF Sigma Kappa

As Samantha headed into her Senior year of college, we started talking about making a t-shirt quilt as a keepsake reminder of her years at University of Florida in the Sigma Kappa sorority.  Here is the finished product.

UF Sigma Kappa T-Shirt Quilt

Tie Quilt for Mom

When my sister and I discovered that our Mother had saved her father's ties, disassembled them, and was using them for crazy quilting, we were inspired to make this quilt that included some of the fabric from these ties.  It was a gift to her, probably for Mother's Day or her birthday.

Tie Quilt

Scrap Quilt - No Cost (Almost)

I made this quilt without spending a dime (well, almost).  Read on to see how this happened.

16 patch & pinwheels

Kaleidoscope Scrap Quilt

While I've dipped into my fabric stash for many projects before, this is officially my first scrap quilt.  It is made up of the Kaleidoscope quilt block.

Scrap Quilt - Kaleidoscope

Laura's Crazy Quilt

This quilt was a gift for my niece in honor of her college graduation.  It was started by my mother, her grandmother, many years before.

Crazy Quilt