Currently Nameless | A Finished Mini-Quilt

Every two years my local quilt guild holds a quilt show to exhibit our work and help raise money for our guild sponsored activities.  Our next show is this spring: Saturday, April 18th and Sunday, April 19th.

One of the ways that we help to raise money is by holding a mini-quilt silent auction.  Guild members are asked to donate mini-quilts through out the months leading up to the show and then we hold two separate auctions, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.  Well I've been trying to work up some mini's to donate and had time to finish one up on Monday night.

When I was making my Crown of Thorns blocks this month, I ended up with a bunch of leftover HST and I decided to make up a mini using them.  I laid them out randomly at first and snapped a quick B&W picture to see how the values looked.  I wasn't in love.  But I did notice how strongly those darker values stood out.  I went back to rearranging...

layout option 1

In the end I really liked this layout.  The left side is a little washed out from my lamp in the picture below but you get the point...it's fun right?!  

layout option 2

I had to cut a few more background squares to finish off the design like I pictured it but it was worth the extra effort in the end.

Finished Mini

I tried my hand at match stick quilting in the background using a beige-y colored thread and left the colored areas un-quilted.   I've no idea what the brand is.  I like the texture it gives the quilt and that it really makes the colored squares pop off the wall.  I used scraps from the top to make the binding and thought it would be fun to throw in a few colorful bits.  I didn't space them very well because the purple bit got lost in a corner but I still like the overall effect.

Quilting detail

The mini finished at 17" square and has fast triangle backs for hanging with a dowel.  I absolutely love the mini and brought it with me to work this morning so I could admire it for a few days before it goes off to the mini-quilt donation pile next week.  Now I just need to name it.  Any suggestions?

If you're in the New England area and want a chance at this mini you'll have to come and visit us at the quilt show Saturday, April 18th and Sunday, April 19th in Lebanon, NH!  Who knows?  Maybe I'll try to buy it back for myself!

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday and Crazy Mom Quilts!

Crown of Thorns BOM Blocks

Each month at my local quilt guild we do a block of the month drawing.  The Block of the Month Committee chooses a pattern and color palette the month before and then each person has the option of making as many blocks as they'd like.  At the next month's meeting we display all of the blocks and draw a winner out of a hat to receive all of them.  Each person gets one entry for each block they make.  The more blocks you make, the more entries you get!

I don't participate in these often for this month I just had to.  We used this pattern to make 15" Crown of Thorns blocks in Purples and Greens on a beige background.  Lucky for me I had just picked up the A Neutral Notion 1/2 yard bundle for Fabricworm so I had plenty of beige on hand.

block 1 laid out and ready to sew

I used the quick make 8 at a time method to make the exterior HST and the 4 at a time method to make the interior two-tone HST for each block.  They were quick and easy to pull together.  After my first two blocks I cut the pieces I needed for another 4 and then chain pieced and cut them all.

block 2 finished with fabrics for blocks 3-6 cut out.

When I finished I had 6 - 15" blocks to show for it!  I had so much fun making these and REALLY hope I win them at the meeting next week.  This block has been on my bucket list for a long time and this was the best excuse to try it out.

The other bonus is that because of the method I used to make my HST I had 4 exterior HST left over from each block.  I used these to make a mini-quilt that will be going to our silent auction at our quilt show on April 18th and 19th this spring.

shoddy picture of 4 of my finished blocks

I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story today.