Miniature madness

One of my favorite quilting books is titled Small Blocks, Stunning Quilts by Mary Elizabeth Kinch, where almost every block is no more than 3″ in size. 4″ max! Which means the pieces needed to construct many of the blocks are cut at an inch or less! As I paged through it I was riveted by an antique quilt the author referenced, in which the pieces — the design unit — were half an inch square! There must have been a million of them. A truly scrappy quilt if ever there was. I could imagine the quilter using up every tiny slip and scrap she could get her hands on — maybe even reaching for the bits her fellow quilters discarded on the floor — and putting them all together in a uniform manner using a Four Patch Cross design. Once the blocks were a certain size the quilter (unfortunately unknown) sashed them with red and then put a broad red border around them all. It is stunning and I’m sure a person could study the quilt for hours on end and always see something new. Because of the random use of both light and dark sashing strips (the Cross portion of the design block) a thousand secondary patterns were created. A true marvel. And hard to fathom the hours (Months? Maybe a year or two?) it took to create the quilt.

Well, I had to give the idea a whirl! I used a slightly larger strip to sub-cut into my squares (1 1/4″ instead of 1″) and started making my tiny Four Patches. I began the quilt 15 years ago or more. I know that because I started piecing them on a sewing machine I no longer own. I’d make a few small blocks and then set them aside. Then make some more and put them away again, impatient with how slowly the pile grew and how careful I had to be with my seam allowance. (Miniature blocks have little to no wiggle room for error.) In fact, half of me wondered if I’d ever truly finish enough to make a decent size quilt out of them.

In between I got a lot of other projects done but every year or so I’d come across these tiny blocks and admonish myself to be serious about finishing them.

Fast forward to this pandemic year. For me this has been a year of Finishing. It thrills me to say this, as I am one of the worst when it comes to starting something but not following through. Sigh. All thanks to ADD. It explains why I have so many orphan blocks and random patchwork pieces buried in my fabric stash. (See previous posts about those.)

After a lot of dithering, I asked a good friend and quilt shop colleague to help me choose the color for the wide sashing strips and a border. Pink and gold were out of my comfort zone but I decided to take the risk.

Unfortunately when it came time to put the blocks together I found some were smaller than others. Ack! No doubt it was because I’ve improved in my piecing skills since I first started, plus I’d finished the blocks on a different sewing machine, one with a more accurate 1/4″ seam allowance. What do to? I didn’t want to just throw the smaller ones out but I certainly did NOT want to make any more! So I performed a bit of surgery (ahem) and used a narrower seam in places. Phew! Mission accomplished.

I felt this quilt was begging to be hand-quilted, which started me another journey. For the backing I used a hand-woven check from India that I had on hand. (In this pandemic year I’ve also been intentional about using what I have; something else that has been both challenging and satisfying.) It’s the kind of cotton weave used for dhotis and lunghis. I knew it would be easy to needle and feel wonderfully soft underneath. As there wasn’t quite enough I pieced the back with one of my orphan stars and a swatch of left-over paisley.

While hand quilting told myself I wouldn’t let myself feel rushed. That I’d practice patience and be content with however long it took. No fancy designs, just a humble in-the-ditch quilting. I started in December and finished in April. Not too bad. I made the process a little more fun for myself by using different color threads: dark red, pink, yellow and blue. I do love the YLI brand.

Now that the quilt is completed I think I’d like to do this quilt pattern again someday, but I’d start with a slightly bigger square. Of course the overall effect would be different as it wouldn’t have the variety of light and dark color plays which create the secondary designs. It certainly is perfect for quilters like me who are loathe to throw away the tiniest of scraps. Someone on Facebook commented: “A two inch square is yardage!” So true. In fact, I noticed that after working with such small pieces that a 2″ scrap looks pretty chunky to me and a 5″ block seems truly clunky!