Well hello there! Welcome to my stop on the Marti Michell Mini Quilt Blog Hop.
If you’re participating in the Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Sew Along (with Angie of Gnome Angel), you’d be aware of Marti Michell’s helpful templates. The templates are not only useful for the Farmer’s Wife blocks, they can be used to make a whole range of blocks, some of which you can see on this Mini Quilt Blog Hop. So don’t let those babies gather dust in your drawer, pull them out and make some Mini Quilts to decorate your walls!
The Coral Mini Quilt I have for you today finishes at 18″ x 18″ and uses the Perfect Patchwork Templates Set A.
The quilt is quite simple – made only of half square triangles (HSTs) and quarter square triangles (QSTs). The use of colour is where we get to have some fun and bring out a secondary pattern of rectangles on the diagonal.
This mini is also a great scrap buster, too. So let’s get started.
Firstly, the mini quilt is made from scraps in four colour groups – dark coral, pink, pale yellow and mustard.
Take the A2 and A4 templates from Set A and cut the following amounts from your fabric scraps:
Take the larger, A2 triangles and sew them together (see below) to form the HSTs. Press toward the darker fabric:
Take the A4 triangles and sew them together to form the QSTs. When joining the first quarters together, press toward the darker quarter. Then the seams will nest when the two halves are sewn together. Press the final seam open or to the side, as preferred.
Now that all the individual units are complete, lay them out in a 6 x 6 arrangement as shown below:
Sew the rows together, pressing the seams in successive rows to alternate sides. Sew the rows together, nesting the seams. Press the seams open or to the side as preferred (you’ll need to swirl the seams to reduce bulk if you press to the side).
A mini quilt is a great candidate for spray basting – you can find a how-to on this technique over here.
Quilting is quick and easy with this one. I quilted either side of the seams that form the rectangles with a dark coral thread. I lined up the side of my walking foot with the seams and used them as a guide. I worked from the middle lines out to each edge. I then changed thread to a mustardy-gold and sewed another line in between each coral quilt line and the seam.
Binding was with a dark coral and pink print. I cut my strips at 2″ as I felt it created a binding more in proportion to the mini quilt. Five 2″ x 20″ strips from a FQ will be enough to do it.
And there you have it, a fun little mini that plays with colour and helps reduce your scrap pile.
I really wanted to make another version in blue/grey solids but time got away from me. If you do make one of these in a different colour way, I’d love, love, love to see it!
If you like this tutorial, make sure you sign up for my emails so you don’t miss any in the future.
Here are all the details of the other hops on this tour ;) :
12 August 2016 Angie @ GnomeAngel.com
19 August 2016 Tonya @ The Crafty Mummy
26 August 2016 Lucy @ Charm About You
02 September 2016 Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts <— you are here
09 September 2016 Cat @ Cat + Vee
16 September 2016 Nathalie @ Les Ouvrages de Nat
23 September 2016 Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts
30 September 2016 Peta @ She Quilts A Lot
07 October 2016 Lisa @ Sweet Little Pretties
14 October 2016 Rachel @ Wooden Spoon Quilts
21 October 2016 Raylee @ Sunflower Quilting
28 October 2016 Lisa @ In The Boon Docks
04 November 2016 Marti Michell
There’s also the chance to win a Marti Michell prize pack if you enter your mini quilt (made following any of the tutorials) into the running. You can do that by submitting your mini’s photo:
to the link-up tool that each of the participating bloggers will post on their sites on Friday, 18 November, or
to the specific album in the Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt Facebook Group, or
on Instagram with the hashtag #MartiMichellMiniQuiltmania and tagging Angie @gnomeangel) and Marti Michell (@MartiMichell) in the photo.
Hello! I’ve just come across your blog! I’d love to make this but the templates are no longer available. Do you have the sizes of the HST and QST?
Hi Carol, the blocks all finish at 3″, so they are 3.5″ unfinished.
This mini is so pretty! I looked at it for a long time trying to figure out the blocks and really enjoyed the design. I hope to make one like this soon and would love to use up some scraps! Thank you!
Hi Kathy – I agree it’s a bit of a mind bender when you look at it, but once you see the block pattern it’s really easy (that’s my favourite type of quilt – looks hard, but is actually easy ;)