Hi my name is Rachael and I’m addicted to mini mini quilts!
They’re so much fun to make, if a little challenging, and are a great way to test out new techniques, designs or colour schemes.
If you play around on Instagram much they’re also many people willing to partake in little informal swaps of mini mini quilts which is a great way to make new friends and get a little unique piece of artwork! Just search for #miniminiquiltswap for some inspiration!
Usually with my mini mini quilts my main goal is to just how small I can go! I feel I may be just a little crazy at some points. My smallest measures just 1.5″ x 2″!
@makemodermagazine also recently hosted a mini mini quilt contest using the #mmminimini tag which has lots of inspiration and so many tiny quilts (over 700!!). Here are a couple that I entered, they’re 6″ x 6″ and I’ll be releasing them as pdf patterns soon!!
Want to make your own? Here are some quick tips:
– Start simple (and bigger), once you’ve mastered a 6″ mini scale your pattern down to 4″. More complex patterns may need to be simplified as they get smaller and the seams will just become to bulky to work with.
– FPP designs are (I find) a lot easier to work with than general piecing and are far easier to scale down without having to use maths! Just remember to adjust the seam allowances.
– Keep the quilting basic, often the seams can become quilt bulky which can throw off some more detailed quilting. Unless your a FMQ (free motion quilting) pro (I really need to start practising) I’d stick to simple lines, waves or echos.
– Hand sew your binding, maybe I’m BIASED as I always hand sew mine, but I find you get much neater results being able to generally manipulate the final sewing down of the binding than if you attempt trying to get the tiny quilt through the machine. I have a tutorial here for how I sew teeny tiny binding.
Ready to swap?
What size is a mini mini? These swaps are relaxed but generally think around 4″ x 4″ out less for a mini mini, anything goes though!
How do I swap? Head over to Instagram, check out the #miniminiquiltswap tag for some inspiration, see if any are available or make one (or many) and use the hash tag to let others know it’s available.
Just remember to have fun and make some new friends!