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Monday 1 February 2010

Mini Quilts and REALLY Mini Quilts

Gosh nearly 10 days since my last post - sorry everyone!
There is a lot of momentous stuff happening in my life at the moment which is rather getting in the way of my blogging. Can't say too much at the moment (don't want to jinx it!) but if it all works out then the future is looking very bright and sunny!
Anyway, despite this, I am still managing to escape to the sewing room to work on more ideas for my new range of handmade goodies.
I started making these mini quilts about 18 months ago with the idea of selling them in our shop. I got the box frames from Ikea and was just going to leave them pinned to the back like this as I though it worked well (as long as you keep them upright!).
But, though I finished 4 and could easily have tried them out, I clearly wasn't ready to part with them! So they have been sitting around under a pile of books all this time, 2 of them framed, with 2 more box frames still wrapped in cellophane.
I particularly liked the Amish one below. I have always wanted to make a full sized Amish quilt but have never been brave enough to start it due to the huge amount of hand quilting needed to make it look authentic. It took a long time hand quilting just this tiny little quilt. I took the design and quilting patterns directly from a book I have on Amish quilts so that it would be a scaled down reproduction.
I think I am ready to attempt to sell them now so they will be added to the range.
They are a great way to use up tiny scraps from other projects. I still had a lot of pre-cut strips from making them and, bearing in mind I am on the look out for ways to use that huge bag of keyfobs that I found, I thought I could make some REALLY tiny quilts as key rings!
Here is the first attempt. I thought it was pretty cute and worth reproducing so here are a few more.
Thanks to Sarah (Henry's Mum) for suggesting I use a darker colour on the back. The original one had a white backing and I was concerned that nobody would want to use it as a key ring as it would become so grubby. I think the contrast colour works much better and shows up the hand quilting. I still have to finish the quilting on most of this pile and sew on the key fobs (that's a 'sitting in front of the telly' job!).
Still not sure whether they work as key rings or would be better just as little 'hanging quilts' with a loop attached. Sarah said the practicality of a key ring makes them a better buy.
As always, any thoughts are most welcome!

2 comments:

  1. What fantastic ideas!! I am sure the miniquilts in the frames are going to be a great success. i especially like the amish one! If you are making that one into a keyring can I first refusal to buy please?? You are onto a winner there!!!

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  2. Well, being ever practical, I would imagine the key rings would work out quite expensive if you're doing them by hand (compared to other key fobs, not the amount of work you put in), so I would say the framed mini quilts would probably seem like better value to buyers. My favourite is def the top one - I love it! Can just imagine it hanging very nicely in my bedrooom :) - and what a great way to give someone a quilt!

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