Minis and Babies

I  had such a great sewing day yesterday. I started the day with  a WiP Wednesday report, and once that was out there I just kept going! I delivered my Bee Blocks to the post office and then it was a dash to the mat and machine.

First, I finished the top of my very first Mini Quilt. I have joined the Fresh Mini Quilt Club through  Canoe Ridge Creations.

I have not been drawn to the mini-quilt in the past. Turns out I was being far to practical in my thinking. I mean yes, you cannot use a mini-quilt to keep you warm while watching TV or snuggling in the bed with the furry kids. But a mini-quilt is a piece of art. Hang it on the wall, set it on a table top etc, you can look at it all of the time! The other reason I feel my time for mini quilts has come is because I am really struggling with my quilting skills, either with my walking foot or Free Motion Quilting (FMQ). I suspect some is my machine, but a lot is just lack of practice and being afraid to try new things. I think having a smaller project to work on will make all the difference. I will be sure to show you the results. For now, I am just happy today looking in the Top. It is simple and bold all at the same time. I cannot believe what I have been missing by not using just solids in a quilting project. Now I don't know how I did without those color saturated babies! 

Even the scraps of this fabric make me happy

I was taking a break from HSTs, thank goodness there were only a few in this pattern

Next, I got to work on the Bella Baby Quilt. I have to say that I am completely smitten with this fabric. You can feel the quality, and it sews like a dream. In picking a top pattern, I wanted something big enough to show the fabric design, but also highlight the color. I ended up going with this tutorial that I saw on Pinterest (holy hannah would you be as lost without Pinterest as I would be?). 

The thing that struck me about figuring out the widths for cutting etc was that I know virtually nothing about pre-cuts. I mean, yes, I love me a Fat Quarter, but when someone says Jelly Roll, I don't know the measurements etc. After a little web browsing I found this great post on Pre-cuts at Sew4Home . I actually ended up using a pack of Fat Quarters for this project which is totally doable once you know the width of a jelly role is 2.5 " :)

As I was folding the fabric for cutting I just had to stop and take pics. The fabric is pure JOY!

Even the selvage is cool

 

I have to say I. LOVE. THESE. BLOCKS! 

 

I got half of them done today and and well on my way to the second half, which I will hopefully finish up this week. I really hope that my friend likes this quilt. It is going to Nova Scotia, and I feel like the fabric is very organic feeling, full of nature (wow, sounding a little pretentious here, hope you get what I mean). 

Enough chatting, best get back to it! 
Thanks for stopping by
Adrienne