Small Quilts

I really like small quilts. George Siciliano and Sally Collins make the most exquisite small quilts I've ever seen, but I can't see myself making an entire quilt out of blocks that finish to a half inch or log cabins with logs measuring a quarter inch wide. No, three inches is just about the smallest block size I want to work with, and those use up the smallest scraps I keep very nicely.

Last year and the year before, I promised myself that I would make more small quilts, but I didn't. This year I'm keeping that promise to myself. Over the last month or so, I've finished four small quilts and have more in the works. They are all just tops so far, and I'll get to the quilting eventually.

The crocus that I was working on at the beginning of the month, courtesy of Eileen Sullivan of The Designer's Workshop, is finished now; and it measures 14" x 16". Old Man Winter is not done with us yet, and we got another couple inches of wet, heavy snow this afternoon. The crocuses give me hope that eventually it really will be spring. This is what I used for my paper piecing demonstration for my quilt group.

Last year at this same time, you may recall that I was asked to do a paper piecing demo, and I used this Pineapple Blossom block. The pattern is Bonnie Hunter's, but the idea for the colors came from one of Gayle Bong's quilts. This will probably prove to be one of my favorites. I love the colors in it, and I love that border fabric. It measures 22" x 22".

This one is called Strip Mine. The method is one I learned ten years ago when I took the class from Quilt University online. The class, taught by Patti Anderson, is still being offered. The fun thing about this little quilt is that the foundation used for the piecing is actually showing through as the white stars. This one also measures 22" x 22". The original blocks were six inches, so I drafted them into my EQ program and resized them to four inches. Four blocks make one complete star.

In December my Secret Sister presented me with this little pack of five fat quarters. (The dark green print was not part of the pack.) I decided that I'd use them up in a series of small quilts, but I'm not necessarily using every fat quarter in every quilt.

This is the first one in what I'm calling (for the moment) my Pink and Green series. It's a small quilt from one of Lori Smith's fat quarter quilting patterns, and I used four of the five fat quarters plus two or three fabrics I added to the mix. It measures 16" x 20".

Pink and Green #2 is also one of Lori Smith's fat quarter quilts and will finish to 16" x 20". Two of the sections in the photo have not yet been sewn together, and there are top and bottom triangle borders still to be added. I only used one of the five fat quarters in this piece.

Pink and Green #3 will be a small applique quilt, and Pink and Green #4 will be the Bra quilt, which you'll hear more about later.