SUNDAY PATCHWORK #7
This Sunday Patchwork spans the last three Sundays and lots of hours in between. It started with an idea to do a mini quilt in aqua, yellow and cream. A big part of my love for this colour palette was this Windham fabric. I picked out a selection of fabrics from my stash and had it in my mind to ‘whip up’ this mini quilt top in a night. I also had it in my mind to do it all in tiny half square triangles (HSTs) rather than my usual improv piecing style. I wanted structure and repetition for this mini quilt.
Well, that first Sunday night, I barely got through cutting all the squares of fabric, marking lines, sewing, slicing and ironing over 150 HSTs. The next morning when I got up, I jumped on the sewing machine and started to sew them together, but I didn’t get far. Those teeny tiny HSTs (they are 1″ finished) got really wonky, really quickly when I started putting them together. I could see right away that in order for me to get all my points perfect and to keep things square, I was going to have to hand piece this mini quilt.
I learned about the joys of hand piecing from Carolanne. It is an amazing way to sew incredibly accurately. When I made my patchwork skateboard last year, it was all pieced by hand. It might take a bit longer, but it’s so satisfying and you can do it on the couch or tucked in bed.
This hand piecing project couldn’t have come at a better time, it has been the best therapy for some long, stressful days. Completely focusing on the stitching gave me a great escape to clear my mind.
I put the top together with no plan and just randomly sewed the pieces together. I originally thought I would have all the HSTs facing in the same direction, but decided to do some alternating to create some movement within the piece. It will finish at 12″ square and is made up of 144 half square triangles.
I love to take photos of the back of my work, especially when all the seams line up and create perfect little shapes. That is the best!
I gotta say, I love it. A LOT.
Tonight at the Stitch n’ Bitch, I’m going to baste it and figure out how to quilt it. I’ll probably also be thinking about my next mini quilt, which is going to be inspired by ice cream colours!
