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Happy Sewing!

Mini Mania QAL : Leap Frog Mini Quilt

I am excited to share my Leap Frog mini quilt from the Mini Mania book by Abbey Lane Quilts. This was a fun one to make and I was able to chain piece it together pretty quickly once I got it cut out. 

I chose to use the same print in all the corner stars instead of making it scrappy as shown in the book. 

One tip I would share is to make sure you draw the lines on the back of the squares as instructed in the book.  Next time, I would also consider making my HST blocks a little larger and trimming with a Bloc Loc to make my points come together a little more easily. 

It's no secret that I love a dot background ... this one might be my new favorite - a small grey dot from Zen Chic. 

I free motioned my mini with some swirls and I love the Vintage Picnic gingham for the binding!  

We have a few kits left in both my version show here as well as Jennie's version - see her post about the Leap Frog mini here at cloverandviolet.com. 

Happy Sewing! :)

Pineapple Mini Quilt

I finally broke down and made a pineapple mini. I'd seen a few that were patchwork squares and they were totally adorable!  But then when I saw the Sew Kind of Wonderful girls turn their mini pumpkin pattern into a pineapple, I was sold.  I broke out my Mini Quick Curve Ruler I had picked up at market last fall and went for it.

I found that the Simply Colorful prints from V & Co were perfect for this ... all in similar shades with small scale interesting prints.  Scrappy made easy.  I like easy.  Of course, the background was a no-brainer ... my go-to Moda Essential Dots.

I used the Mini Pumpkins pattern available online here at Sew Kind of Wonderful for how to make the actual body of the pineapple.  The leaves are included as free directions here  (just click on the picture to access the file).

I added a small border (about 2" and then trimmed after quilting) to frame up my finished block.  A little echo quilting in the background, crosshatch on the fruit, and free motion in the leaves made this really fun!

A few folks on Instagram asked about a kit, so I have a similar kit of fabrics available here (shown above).

Happy sewing! :-)

Mini Mania QAL : Leap Frog

We're moving right along in the Mini Mania Book this month.  Jennie at Clover & Violet and I are sewing the Leap Frog Mini for this month.  We picked some similar colors this time, but I love how different these will look despite a similar color scheme.

 Jennie's kit features prints from Lil Red as well as fun aquas from Basic Mixologie and Simply Colorful II.  She is choosing to emphasize the center star with the pink print. 

My version of the kit keeps the background print as the center star, but uses the same print in all four corners around the center star.  Wouldn't this be such a fun block to make multiples of for a quilt?  At 16" square, its pretty quick to sew.

I couldn't help using my favorite Hello Darling print with some new Vintage Picnic (now in stock!) for my kit ... they play so nicely together! :-)

I'll share some tips as well as my finished mini this weekend!  In the meantime, you can see my progress on Instagram (@sewlux).

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Tutorial : Heart Mini Trio

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and it is so nice to have a little something to show your favorite people you care.  This Heart Mini Trio comes together quick and easy thanks to Moda's precut mini charms!

You'll Need (kits while they last): 

• 1 Mini Charm Pack (or thirty-five (35) 2.5" squares)
• 1/4 yard binding
• 1/4 yard backing
• 10 x 20 cotton batting 
• 3" x 4" cardstock 
• 4" x 8" WonderUnder

Step One: 
Sort your fabric into four groups.  Using the First Crush Fabric by Sweetwater, I sorted as follows:

• Eight red squares for the hearts 
• Three sets of nine squares for the mini backgrounds 

Step Two: 

Next, sew together three nine-patches with your background squares.  Press the seams of each row in opposite directions so they will nest when you join them.

Then, sew the red squares together in a rectangle (two rows of four).  Press seams open. 

Step Three:  

Fold the 3" x 4" piece of cardstock in half (1.5" x 4") and use paper scissors to cut the shape of a heart.

Trace the cardstock heart onto paper side of the WonderUnder.  Cut out the hearts leaving a little room around your lines.  Then, following the manufacturer's directions, fuse the WonderUnder to the wrong side of your pieced hearts rectangle.

Cut out all three hearts.  And carefully peel the paper off.  Fuse to the nine patch units. 

Step Four: 

Using a coordinating thread, applique one heart to each of the three nine patch units.  (I used a zig zag stitch.  But you can use a blanket stitch or another decorative stitch.)

Step Five: 

Layer the nine patch, batting and backing.  Baste and quilt as desired.  Repeat to make three mini quilts. I chose to outline quilt the hearts and then stitch 1/4" along the sides of each seam to make a grid of quilting in the background. 

Step Six: 

Cut three 2.25" x WOF strips from the binding fabric (one strip for each mini).  Press in half lenthwise to created the binding strips.  Attach binding and finish by hand or machine as desired.  

If you do this by assembly line, you can make all three super quick!  You could also join them together to create a small runner or pillow.  

Hope you enjoyed this sweet little tutorial.  Kits for this are available in our shop while they last! 

Happy Sewing! :-)