Sunday 16 June 2013

Mini Quilt Madness

After a decent nap this morning (thanks hubby) I have managed to get some blogging mojo back, and tell you about my latest little project - the mini quilt. Hopefully I'll just manage to get this post sorted in time to link up to the modern mini quilt challenge over at Ellison Lane.

Like many other things, this has been festering for a while. The issue is this ridiculously expensive wallpaper we purchased for Princess.  

$ $ $
It is yet to go up in her room (just one wall - you'll have to bear with me if you're a feature wall hater, but it is too crazy for a whole room) and I had visions of finding matching peacock bits and pieces to tie the paper into her room. Alas, pink peacock accessories are not a dime a dozen. But, you say - why don't you make her a mini-quilt for her wall?  What a great idea my quilty friends!  Okay then. 

I decided I didn't really like the peacock in the wallpaper, so I changed him up a bit and drew a few sketches for some ideas. I made a quilt background out of 2" squares with a border - sort of a picture frame. And then I got hacking into the scraps from my lattice quilt and ironing with fusible web.  To cut a long story short, here are the progress shots.

It doesn't help that the iron leaks.  *sigh*

Half way through the ironing.  Fiddly. And not really in a good way. 

Aggghh - I can't see.  Where's my eye?

Started sketchy quilting. A first for me. Not awesome at it, but not too bad either. The yellow is my chalk lines for the whirly swirly bits. 

Still blind.  Will you just sort it out?

Finished sketchy quilting. Well except for around the feather dots and a bit more for the branch - I decided it didn't look thick enough to support a peacock!

Finally.

I decided to straight line quilt around the black border, to emphasise the picture frame. But then I decided it needed more colour. Enter the hot pink border. This was a 1" strip, ironed in half - and then stitched around the edge. A bit like piping, really. And then I machined bound in the usual way. 

I'm so pretty, pretty.

Ta dah!  One mini quilt approximately 15 x 15". 

I totally forgot to put the hanging sleeve on, after thinking a million times 'I mustn't forget the hanging sleeve'. 

*Dramatic sigh* 

But I can do that later. 

Angle shot.  Ooooh.

I might attack it with a little hot pink embroidery. I shall ponder this further!  This was an interesting experience. The sketchy quilting was quite fun, but in my view not really suitable for bed quilts. I don't think the appliqué would handle being washed too often. 

So what do you think?  Princess was quick to claim it!  But next time I would spend more time thinking through the design. Maybe a bigger peacock. Hmmmmm.  

And just so you know how awesome and organised I was during this wee project, here is an action shot of the dining room table. Jealous?

Ka-boom.  Quilting explosion.

Not really, right?!

Linking up to Sew Darn Crafty at Sew Many Ways and Charm about You for the Lets Get Acquainted Monday link up. 

15 comments:

Megan said...

Wow, impressive. I would never have the patience with anything so fiddly looking. The wall paper is amazing - I can see why one wall of it could feel like enough. Looking forward to the Princess bedroom makeover shots!

Barb said...

I love your black sketch quilting! I agree...can't wait to see the finished makeover.

Happy Turtle said...

Looks great! Great job!
Carol

mammafairy said...

Oh I am so jealous! you are working in a neat, tidy , organised space!

And a lovely result!

hydeeannsews said...

Liz, it turned out beautifully!!! Really amazing. The picture frame quilting is a very nice touch. Giggling about the forgotten hanging sleeve. That would be me. Our dining tables DO look very similar. :)

JB said...

That is brilliant wallpaper, what a lucky girl! Your quilt is lovely.

Tricia ~~ Handmade Whimzy said...

I love it!! I would love it hanging in my bedroom too. Your daughter will treasure it.

Lucy | Charm About You said...

you crack me up!! So funny!
The mini is gorgeous, no surprise she snapped it up! I love all the elements and it's very pretty.
My whole house looks like your table ;)

Unknown said...

Very pretty...she will love it.

Kristy @ Quiet Play said...

It looks just amazing! Fantastic work!

Dianne Neale said...

What a beautiful quilt. Your peacock is much nicer than the one on the wallpaper!

Paula said...

I love it. The peacock is really stunning, definitely so much nicer than the one on thewall paper. The little pop of pink in the border really makes it.

Kris said...

Well it turned out great. I love the process you went through.

Lisa said...

He looks like such a proud and handsome fellow. Beautiful job - I very much like your bright pink outer border - it really adds a nice zing! Lucky princess!!!

Anita said...

It turned out awesome! It will be so nice in her room. My work area usually turns into a disaster quickly. It's a sign of a great creative mind. ;)