Tuesday, November 01, 2011

{amylouwho} mini quilt sew & tell challenge

One of my most enjoyable experiences at The Sewing Summit was the class Marvelous Mini's taught by Amanda of MsMcPorkchopQuilts. She's pretty much a rockstar! She was so excited and passionate about patchwork in general, and something she coined as everyday patchwork.
Amanda of Mrsmcporkchop Quilts
photo courtesy The Workroom via Flickr.

Everyday patchwork are things that bring the handmade to our daily routines and lives.  A bag, a notebook cover, a snack bag, a mug rug, etc!

She talked about creating a mini quilt as a way of acheiving the satisfaction of quilting in a short period of time.  I know I'm a sometimes quilter because it takes me so long to finish one large quilt.  But the best thing I heard was, "You don't have to make bed sized quilts to be a quilter." You DON'T?
me and Amanda
see! look how happy I am after figuring that out!
That statement there changed my view on everything!

Look at all the wonderful minis that were on display during her class.

mini quilts!

I was so jazzed after taking her class, that I stopped throwing away my smallish scraps and have visions of mini quilts dancing in my head!

She fussy cuts a ton, which I used to think I wouldn't like, until I met Heather Ross prints.  How can you NOT fussy cut them? She uses a fussy cut piece as the starting point for almost every patchwork project she makes.  It helps her tell a story with the quilt.  Which is what she encouraged everyone to do.  Tell a story.

I even signed up for the Post Summit Swap on Flickr so I could make a mini for my swap partner.  We have a short deadline and need to mail by this coming Saturday.  I have an idea I just need to start pulling scraps!

And then as a bunch of us were chatting on Twitter (@amy_louwho) the other day (which I never did before the Sewing Summit) an idea exploded.  A mini quilt party! How fun would that be!?  Oh WAIT! How about a Mini Quilt Exclusive Sew & Tell!??  Even more fun!  With giveaways and prizes!!!  Oh yes, that's right.

So the swap ends this weekend and I thought NEXT Friday, November 11, would be perfect timing!

So the challenge now, is to create a mini quilt in the next 2 weeks and come back here on 11 November to link up for Sew & Tell - Mini Quilt Challenge edition and we'll have ourselves a party!

I'll be posting an interview with Ms. McPorkchop and finding inspiration to share with you as well.  If you search mini quilt or doll quilt on Flickr you will undoubtedly find a LOT of inspiration.

So what constitues a mini quilt? Any small patchwork that is quilted.  It can be in the form of a doll quilt, small wallhanging, zipper pouch, drawstring bag, notebook cover, mug rugs, table runners, hot pads.  You get the idea.  Patchwork and quilted and small.  That pretty much sums it up!

I think it's good to try something new and break out of our comfort zones.  I hope you'll take up this challenge and whip something up one afternoon to share with us.  Remember it's as much about the process as it is the finished project.  You don't have to blow us away with your style and precision, just make something and enjoy doing it!

Here's a button to grab to spread the word!



 

18 crafty mcCrafters commented:

KristyLou said...

Awesome idea. I am off to do "research".

notes of sincerity said...

Game on sister! :o)

Dayna said...

Oh, I want to do this... but I'm s-s-s-scaaared! O.O

John said...

And then you can ALL enter your mini quilts in the Sew Mama Sew! Doll Quilt Contest -- win cool prizes!!
http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2011/10/doll-quilt-contest-pretty-in-patchwork-doll-quilts/

Happy Cottage Quilter said...

I love working on small quilts. That was one reason I joined up for the Schnibbles party a couple of years ago. Kind of like instant gratification :-)

Debbie said...

Sounds like a great idea!

elizabeth said...

I'm in!! I hope that I will have many link ups to Little Quilt Monday on my blog each week to show off all these mini creations! It is so much fun to share and inspire each other and try something new. I know for me, I am going crazy hand stitching mine....little projects are very rewarding.

http://piecefullife-elizabeth.blogspot.com/search/label/Little%20Quilt%20Monday

msmcporkchop said...

Yeah!!!!! This is a great post Amy!!! I'm crossing my fingers I'll have a new mini to link up!!! <3<3<3

emedoodle said...

Awesome! That was my fav class of the weekend. I came right home and made a mini quilt! :) Hopefully I have a new one to link up :)

twin fibers said...

Yay, that's a great idea! Now I'm all excited to make a little mini quilt! :)

Kim said...

I am trying to finish mine up tonight...I had to walk away from my random placement...it was consuming me!!!!!!!

Elizabeth D. said...

Definitely count me in, I could use a fun little project :)

Heather said...

Okay, yeah... now you've gone and done it. lol This sounds like too much fun to pass up! :o)

Darci said...

So fun! I am in. Now I need to just decide which of the bizillion ideas in my head to do....

Shannon said...

I am going on vacation next week, and I love the idea of having something I can hand quilt on the planes, but will still fit into a (reasonably sized) carry on. I'll have to see if I can get something pieced before I leave for the linky party.

BTW, you could have warned me that once you make a quilt then 5 more quilt ideas will seem urgent. :-)

Kirsten N said...

Love this idea - just need to decide what to do:)

Susie at ProsperityStuff said...

How fun! I've recently discovered how fun mini-quilts are ... I've been making little tiny scrappy pumpkins and little tiny fall leaves ...

Kimberly said...

Not sure how to participate in this... but I'd love to! Can it be a quiltie I made a week or two ago?