Saturday, July 25, 2009

Scrappy Lil’ Doll Quilts Reveal and Giveaway

Well, here it is the 25th and, yes, I have a little scrappy quilt, called “Close, But No Cigar” (since I meant it to be a charm quilt but, oops, doubled up on one of the fabrics). It finished at 12" by 13".

Well, I whined in an earlier entry about the challenges I faced in quilting the border. Sometimes you just need to. Whine, that is. So I whined and then heaved a big sigh and took out all the border quilting so I could get a clean do-over. Didn’t really enjoy that but at least I felt morally righteous. I took Mary L.’s advice and got one of the silicone sliders. It worked great! I look forward to using it with all my machine quilting from here on out.

Meanwhile, the giveaway: I cut out two sets of patches for the foundation so if anyone is interested in the spare set, just drop a comment here and let me know (I don’t mind shipping international). If more than one person wants them, I’ll hold a drawing. I should mention that these are probably only going to be useful to you if you have my book Miniatures in Minutes since the templates are trimmed to work with the Pyramid Triangle foundation from the book. I’ll wait a few days so people have time to comment – I’ll do the drawing this coming Wednesday.

Here’s a look at the patches (I’ll remove the doubled up fabric so your charm will really be charmed!):

Meanwhile, I’m happy with my little scrappy quilt. There’s just something about plaids. I’m pretty sure that one of the things that drew me to quilting was the way quilts are more than just creations of fabric and thread. It’s how they symbolize so many other things we care about: home, family, comfort. I think what first drew me to plaids is the way they say simplicity.

Even though I’m using contemporary quilt techniques and sewing on my Bernina, plaids still touch me with impressions of a simpler life. Surely I’m not the only one who can get caught feeling nostalgia for a life I never lived – I’ve never sat on the back porch of a farmhouse looking out over the fields some late afternoon with a bowl of snap peas in my lap and I’ve never lived in a little house on a prairie and never said “Good night, John Boy” before turning out the light. But there it is. I make a little plaid quilt and it warms that small corner of me that kind of wishes I had.

13 comments:

  1. Love the name of this little quilt! Just darling!!

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  2. I'll bet I could do something with all those little left overs!!

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  3. These patches are so cute, and the quilt turned out great! You can add my name to the list :-)

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  4. Oh I love, love, love the plaids. They are my latest obsession. And I've been wanting to try something miniature, so I'd be thrilled to be entered in your drawing. Thanks for the chance.

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  5. I agree plaids just make me happy and well a charm little quilt would be perfect for me to make for my wall of little quilts some day I hope to have.
    Kathie

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  6. It's turned out lovely and It's very interesting what you've noted about the slider. I'm hoping I won't need one but I'll keep it in mind just in case.

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  7. I haven't made a mini in several years. I love to start with your plaid triangles!

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  8. It is a beautiful quilt - and I would love to recreate it. Please enter me in the drawing.

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  9. I've been wanting your book and winning those plaids would push me to go ahead and get it.

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  10. The picture is as great as the real thing! A fun project to try - especially since the fabric has been chosen and cut - 2 big timesavers. Thanks

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  11. The quilt looks great! I haven't quilted with plaids before. I would love to win the extra pieces you cut out!

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  12. it looks wonderful! I'm having fun cruising everyone's blogs to see what they made in the scrap challenge!

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