Friday 10 April 2015

A Finish: Sapphire Mini Quilt

I made this mini as part of the #igminioz swap being run over on Instagram. The finished mini has a gemstone-like quality, so I have named it "Sapphire".



My partner said she liked (amongst other things) blue, orange and stars.. I think I ticked those boxes...

While scrolling through Pinterest waiting for inspiration to hit I stumbled across the Shoeman's Puzzle pattern. I was struck by the geometric design and the prismatic effect of the alternating light and dark colours. I couldn't find a pattern anywhere so I decided to draft up my own. I went down the paper piecing route as I find it gives me the best accuracy.

Originally I had planned to make the mini in light and dark blue, but then I played around with the idea of broadening the colours I used to try and get a gemstone effect. I love that look (especially this quilt). A quick bit of colouring with the kids' pencils and I had a plan.



When making this I realised I have a LOT of smaller pieces of fabric (smaller than a fat quarter). I had to use more prints than I had originally planned, but that worked out ok. I think it gives a bit more depth than all the same print. I also had loads of off cuts that were biggish and I hates the thought of wasting them.  They were all a bit random as the were just the trimmings, but I got my improv on and pieced them together into a largish mug rug (or smallish placemat, take your pick).


My first effort at improve. I just couldn't bear to throw away those scraps. It was quite liberating to just whack everything together and quilt random lines. I ended up quite loving the result, to my surprise.


The final package of goodies I sent off.


So here are the quilt stats.



Name: Sapphire
Dimensions: 24" x 24"
Inspiration: Shoeman's Puzzle by Denyse Schmidt
Method: paper piecing, self drafted templates
Fabric: various from my stash, Kona Snow for the background
Backing: Orange fabric from Spotlight
Binding: Dulcette in Bluestar from Color Me Retro by Jeni Baker (as an aside, can I just say how much I love this fabric as binding, I think it really makes the quilt pop).

This crosses one thing off my Q2 FAL list

3 comments:

  1. Beautiful mini and I totally agree about the binding - perfect!

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  2. This is such an awesome mini! I love the design you made!

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  3. That's a lovely mini. I'm sure your partner would be pleased. I'm visiting as a member of the official 2015 Finish-Along cheerleading squad.

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I love getting comments! Feel free to say hi. I'll do my best to reply back - sometimes work and chasing after Moo & Bird might make me tardy.