Masterpiece Quilting

Mini Madness

I'm a college basketball fan, so this has been a busy month for me watching my bracket get busted all over the place!  But as an Island Batik Brand Ambassador we are celebrating Mini Quilts - with Mini Madness!

I love the challenges we get as Brand Ambassadors!  This month our challenge was to make a Mini quilt - smaller than 24" x 24" square and to use foundation piecing or English paper piecing.  Well, this was definitely a challenge for me on both parts - as I normally work with large quilts - 70" x 70" or bigger and foundation piecing, well to be honest, isn't my favorite :)

But challenge accepted as I definitely had to work "outside of the box"!

I started by scrolling through patterns in EQ and found one I liked, then made several modifications to really emphasize the spiral in the center.  Next I pulled in my Island Batiks fabrics for color options and came up with this preliminary sketch. 

The next step was to piece it! 

I realized I mentioned it earlier - but it bears repeating... I do NOT like paper-piecing.  I don't like tearing the paper off - yes, I know to use thin paper and a short stitch length, but I still don't like it.  But I have learned that I can use a water soluble stabilizer instead of paper and just wash it away.... I LIKE that :)   My product of choice is Ricky Tims Stable Stuff Poly....  No, I didn't get paid to say that - I'm just sharing what works for me, and that's what it's all about - finding what works best for you!

Any, back to my Mini!   I dove right in and had the middle section pieced right away...  it's looking good so far!

Next was the outer "wings" as I called them, they went together really well too... then we got to the finally assembly... As the following photo shows, it was a little scary at times but challenge accepted - I persevered !

Since this whole project was "outside my box", I decided to quilt my Mini on my domestic sewing machine  - which is TOTALLY "outside my box" since I'm a longarmer!  This is the first quilt I have EVER quilted on my sewing machine....  EVER!  

(I think that experience my warrant a blog post of it's own - stay tuned!)

I'm really pleased with how my Mini turned out and even happier that I took the challenge and tried something totally new.  I have decided to name it "Spiraling Out of the Box"!

  So, next question - is anyone interested in the pattern for "Spiraling Out of the Box"?  Reply in the comments and let me know.