If you are a hand quilter then you automatically fall into my utmost-and-highest-respect category. The patience and endurance to hand quilt something is just levels far, far above anything that I can fathom!
Flipping the story just a bit, some time ago, when my mini mini phase was all you saw around here, Tracy, had left a comment on one of my posts that she just might get sucked into all the craziness. So, I naturally asked her if she wanted to swap with me too. After she gave me a long list of all the reasons that she shouldn't, she spontaneously decided to jump and take the plunge too as I had.
Like only husband's can, it would seem that both of ours poked fun at us because of the silliness of a "mini mini" quilt... I mean, what the heck do you do with these sweet, but labor intensive goodies, anyway? After having made my mini mini and finding that it was not as fun as she had thought it would be, Tracy graciously offered for me not to make a her's in return... but that's not exactly a swap, right?
So, determined to make both of our husband's eat their words, I decided to take it to the next level and make Tracy's mini something practical. I relatively quickly decided that a travel needle would be the perfect thing for her since she does a good amount of hand sewing. (and her stitches are just so tiny, delicate, and so perfect... I really don't know how she does it?!?) I loosely followed this tutorial, but had to make some adjustments since our sizes where not the same.
I really enjoy adding some nice little decorative accents myself...
Be sure to read Tracy's blog post and see what she made for me... her post touched me very much when she explained why she chosen each thread, fabric, and her inspiration behind it. It left me laughing out loud and smiling the whole time!
So, here's another WIP, finished and marked off my 2016 goals! Just one more quarterly goal to knock off my list.... and it's only Febuary!
Sometimes it's easy to get into a rut, right? I would think that it is safe to say that every blogger, at some point or another, has probably reached a broken record phase. You know, I keep working with the same colors, making the same favorite pattern over and over, or preaching about the same topic... well, I hope that your patience has not run its course when it comes to me sharing, yet again, a few more mini mini's... but if I include another free template, are you still with me?!?
This round of mini's has been all about slow stitching. I've been told that my work reflects a certain attention to detail, and I've always loved adding little embellishments, doilies, and do-dad's to my projects... I'm not talking about kitsch here (hee, hee for my German readers... kitsch is in the English language too!), but simply extra touches.
My mini phase has not just been about jumping on the latest craze bandwagon, but actually about testing out color combinations that I might not ordinarily pick, trying quilting techniques that I've never done before, and simply experimenting with things that I might not trust myself on for bigger projects. While I am not a beginner sewer, I am a beginner quilter, and such little projects have been the perfect opportunity for me to test the waters.
To use this Mini Mini Foliage template, you might want to refer to my tutorial on reverse applique if you have never tried this technique before. The steps are essentially the same, except I had stitched two fabrics together for the leaf instead of using a solid. Then I made a thin binding strip for the center and stitched it on after the leaves had been added. I had thought that this would be fun to make a longer row of leaves together for a bigger project... I might have to add it to the list.
And just so you know, next week things will return to normal size projects AND coming soon another finished quilt reveal!
How about you... do you get in a rut when it comes to your sewing projects? Do you stick with the same colors or patterns? Do you have your own sewing soapbox?
Linking up this week to WIP Wednesday and Let's Bee Social
