A Tiny Spritz of Elements • Quilt Finish • This and That: Nov 2021

November 7, 2021September 13, 2025 Elizabeth E.19 Comments

A Tiny Spritz of Elements • Quilt #259 in my Quilt Index
21″ square

So my husband asked me if this was another pillow. He has a point, as that seems the size I can manage lately, but no…this is a quilt. A mini quilt. It started in a swap of small 2″ unfinished blocks from the guild members at the Inland Empire Modern Quilt Guild. I made more.

The past few months I seemed to have fallen into a streak of really sad days, bad days, tired days, and one of my friends sent me a meme indicating that October was just about to break her, too. What is it about this phase of covid? Those who will, are getting vaccinated, but those of us who are at higher risk also have to make decisions: how will we live with this disease, since we aren’t going to hit the vaccination rate we need to. A bog, a verifiable, certifiable bog.

Then one morning I was sitting outside in the car, waiting for my perfect husband, and because the angle was right and having just shut the door, I was treated to a sparkling array of floating bits of light, the dust scattering flashing bits sunshine all around me as I sat. So often I’m in a rush, in a hurry, and don’t notice these tiny spritzes of cheer. I held the moment close; Dave got in and we drove off.

So that’s the name of this quilt made from tiny blocks, stitched with tiny quilting, each square representing those elements that come into our lives: sorrow, elation, peace, anger, frustration, happiness, forgiveness, repentance, sadness, love and most of all, hope.

When I finished making all my little elements, I saw a quilt from Zen Chic; I followed her lead in the arrangement. I’m also grateful to my fellow Guild Members for sewing and swapping. This little effort is due the first meeting in December, but I just finished it and wanted to share it now.

Melanie chose a birdie block for her turn as Queen Bee in Gridsterbee this month. Her signature block was my little Teeny Tree block–can’t wait to see what she makes of all these birds and trees. Free pattern for tree is here.

UPDATE: The Bee is filled! Thanks to those who joined us!

The Gridster Bee (#gridsterbee) is going through some changes next year. I’m stepping down from the head of the group, and we are looking for some new quilters who want to sew one block a month for your other bee-mates (check out the hashtag above for our wide-ranging style). We have several slots available; continental US only. We require you to have an Instagram Account and/or blog; those in charge will also vet you to make sure that all of us are at the same level of ability. So if you are a beginner who is just learning her stuff, this may not be the group for you.

But if you’ve happily been sewing for a minute or two and want to meet a few really cool women, as well as get a series of blocks made just for you when it’s your turn to be Queen Bee…~~leave me a comment below~~. I’ve been in over five bees, and they’ve all been great experiences. If you haven’t done a bee, consider it!

Occasionally I do clean up my computer desk. We got our Christmas present early this year (a nearly identical model to this one, but newer), so are passing this one on to our daughter.

November must have known we were anxiously waiting for it, for it came in with this beautiful sunset. We were fixing dinner (see below) and went out several times to admire the color and take photos.

Dinner: Sesame Salmon Bowl. I didn’t have the slaw they called for so we just sliced up another Persian cucumber. We had the leftovers the next night–so good!

The Cape Plumbago is flowering, with its rare blue flowers.

One advantage of covid days…

~~Please leave me a comment, or email me privately (e.eastmond@gmail.com), if you are interested in becoming part of a great group of women in our~~ GridsterBee.

Happy Quilting!

Quilts

Tiny Tree and Teeny Trees

December 8, 2017January 23, 2021 Elizabeth E.22 Comments

Tiny Trees

I’m decorating for Christmas and wanted to change out my Tiny Quilt from Autumn to Christmas, but then got wondering how a teeny-weeny quilt would look, so got busy. These little quilts fit onto plastic picture frames:

I have two free patterns for you here, but please remember the drill: Don’t print off umpteen for your next class, or guild meeting swap or your mother. Please send them here to get their own pattern.

The teeny tree (4×6″) pattern is in this downloadable PDF file: Teeny Christmas Tree quilt

Updated, one-page version (2021): Teeny Christmas Tree quilt

The tiny tree (8×10″) pattern is in this downloadable PDF file:Tiny Christmas tree quilt

As you can see from the samples I made up, I play fast and loose with some of the placement of pieces, really using them more as a guideline for cutting, than anything else (although I did cut out the tree exactly).

Tiny Tree_1

Cut out all the pieces for the pattern you’ve chosen. As I noted above, sometimes I used the pattern (shown here before I added the labels) as sort of a general guidelines. You need an accurate tree, and a nice straight edge where you’ll sew it to the tree (the diagonal line in the photo, above). Tiny Tree_2

I sewed the “sky” pieces to the sides of the trunks then trimmed the edge that would attach to the tree. More detailed tutorial is also on my OTHER Christmas Tree block tutorial, which is sized somewhere in between these two tree sizes. (I should open up a Christmas Tree lot with all these patterns.) Tiny Tree_3

Sew the “right” side onto the tree. Make sure you keep the marked top triangle point pointing upwards.

Tiny Tree_4a

Trim any stray areas (above), then add the other side.

Tiny Tree_5

Straighten out the bottom of the tree assembly. Center, then sew on the tree-trunk unit, pressing seam towards tree (so it looks like the trunk is under the tree). Tiny Tree_6a

Now to add the snowdrifts on the little tree. On the left, I sort of place that wedge-shaped piece, determine the angle but flipping it up and down (on the right). When I have the angle I like, flip it back up so right sides are together, and stitch along the upper edge. Trim. Tiny Tree_6b

Repeat for lower snowdrift. Trim excess.

Tiny Tree_7
For the bigger tree, I added on 2″ strips to frame the tree. It needed something to jazz it up, so I got rid of the bottom strip on the pattern and just used strips all around. Tiny Tree_7a

Layer with batting and backing and quilt. I did a meander in the sky area around the trees, then some straight lines in the snowdrift on the teeny tree, and some straight lines in the frame around the bigger tree:

Tiny Tree_8a

I also quilted some swirls in the center of the tree. Tiny Tree_8b

Time to trim. The teeny trees trim to 4-3/4″ by 6-1/2″ and the larger tree is trimmed to 8-3/4″ by 10-1/2.”

Tiny Tree_9

Make a sleeve for the back by cutting a piece the same size as the quilt top, but then hem the lower edge, turning it up twice and top-stitching. I know it’s hard to see in this print, but again, feel free to check out the other tutorials of tiny quilts. Tiny Tree_10a

I brought out my Blythe doll and one of my husband’s nutcrackers to pose by the quilts.

Tiny Tree_10b Tiny Tree_110c

Looks like Blythe has the hots for the Santa skier. And here I thought she’d go for the more traditional guy:

Blythe and King

He does look a little formal. Hmmm. Evidently not her type.

Okay, that’s enough–I’m off to sew!

(Buttons added!)

Books · Mini-quilt · Tiny Quilts

A Tiny Quilt for Autumn

November 15, 2017November 1, 2017 Elizabeth E.6 Comments

Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_front2

So, one day I just had to do some creating. Not following a big-deal pattern with billions of pieces, but a little project that just allowed me to follow a simple set of instructions and play with fabric.

Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_pattern

I had saved this paper pieced pattern from Chase of the blog Quarter-Inch Mark. It’s a free download, and since I was just playing, I printed it out at 100% which made it about a 6-inch pumpkin. I think if I were doing this again, I’d go up to 125% or so, trying to get the pumpkin a bit bigger.

I just cut strips and went to it, and in hindsight, should have put the shaded strip on the outside, but since this was for a little quilt, and I was just playing, I shrugged and kept going.

Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_quilting

I am following the tutorial for another tiny quilt I made, which you can find here. It’s little quilt that fits onto a plastic picture frame that I bought at Wal-Mart for a buck-fifty ($1.50).

Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_binding0b

See the other tutorial for how big to make this (I added strips to the pumpkin to make it large enough), and how big to make the sleeve that goes on the back. All instructions are on that post. Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_binding1b

I like to do single-fabric bindings on my mini quilts. Cut a strip 1-1/2″ wide, stitch RST, first the right/left sides of the quilt, then the top/bottom. Fold up the raw edge of the binding, to the raw edge of the quilt.

Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_binding1c

Use a glue stick to help you out, as you do the next step, which is folding the folded edge over your stitching that attaches the binding. See both sides done (below):

Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_binding2 Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_binding3

Now do the top and bottom, folding in the raw edges, and then the folded edge over that (orange) line of stitching, which attaches the binding.

Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_binding3a

Because you’ve used a glue stick to help you out, the top-stitching (from the top) is easy-peasy.

Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_frame2

Slip the quilt over the plastic frame (above and below).

Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_frame Tiny Pumpkin Quilt_front

I hope to make several of these mini quilts so I can change them with the seasons.

tiny-sailboat-quilt_front-on-frame

Now I have a summer tiny quilt and an autumn tiny quilt!

Mini-quilt · Quilts · Tiny Quilts

A Tiny Quilt for Summer

June 21, 2017November 1, 2017 Elizabeth E.26 Comments

Tiny Sailboat Quilt_front on frame I made this for an exchange at my Guild Night, but then my daughter and her family came into town and I didn’t go, so now I have my own little quilt. Tiny Sailboat Quilt_on frame

It has its own stand, and it’s easy-peasy to make.

Acrylic Frame

First, buy one of these. They used to be more durable, but this is cheap-cheap-cheap and it works.

Tiny Sailboat Quilt_1

Make yourself a sailboat. I pieced the sail on the left first before sewing it into the mini-mini-quilt. Here’s the templates in a PDF file (be sure to set your printer to 100% before printing): Tiny Sailboat And if you like to foundation paper-piece, here it is again: Tiny Sailboat PaperPiece Pattern

Tiny Sailboat Paper Piece

If you are using the foundation paper-piece, cut the pattern into three pieces, as shown by the red lines, being sure to mark it somehow with seam allowances. (I use a colored pencil and draw it along the line before cutting it apart to remind me it is NOT a cutting line, but a seam line.)

The little sailboat finishes at 6 1/2″ by 8″ which isn’t big enough for the frame. I added the sunshiney fabric on three sides, seaming a bit of “ocean” fabric on the sides to keep the horizon line. I also added ocean fabric to the bottom, so now my little boat is afloat.

Tiny Sailboat Quilt_cut to size

Quilt as desired (curvy waves in the ocean, straight lines outlining the sailboat and sails, and stippling in the sunshine), then trim to the above size: 8-3/4″ by 10-1/2.”

Tiny Sailboat Quilt_back

Make the sleeve: Hem one short edge of a piece of fabric cut to 8-3/4″ by 9-1/2″ and place it wrong-sides-down on the back of your mini-mini quilt. Pin in a couple of places.

Cut strips of binding 1 1/4″ wide, seaming if necessary to get the desired length. Stitch the binding from the front, right-sides-together, then turn the back, tucking under the raw edge. Hand-stitch closed.

Tiny Sailboat Quilt_front on frame

Our guild does these a couple of times a year, creating a changeable scene for your home. I’ve previously hung minis on a wall, but I’m really liking this quilt-on-a-stand idea.