Mini Mini Madness
2015 Finished Quilts, Quilts

Mini Mini Madness

This should be my last post about mini mini quilts… for a while. I took on 6 more mini mini quilt swaps and worked over the weekend to get them all put together. I have an inkling that these will crop up from time to time… but I really have other (larger) quilts that have waited patiently for me to wrap up this obsession, so I am looking forward to sharing larger finishes with you again soon.

Mini Mini Madness

Mini Mini Madness

I worked almost entirely from my scrap bin, and even after making all of these mini quilts, it is hard to tell that the volume has changed much.

Mini Mini Madness

Mini Mini Madness

The hardest minis to get started on were the ones where I was told that “anything” would be OK. I decided to stalk instagram profiles and accounts to help me feel a bit more secure in what I would be making. This is a lesson that is good for me to learn; it is probably nicer of me to provide a bit of color guidance to someone else than to say that I would like anything. Definitely food for thought. Do you prefer a complete open ended design or is it helpful to have some kind of input to work with?

Mini Mini Madness

Mini Mini Madness

I think my favorite out of this set ended up being the free motion quilted “Om” symbol. I like the blue and white, the texture, and I am glad my vision for it translated into reality.

Mini Mini Madness - Backs

Mini Mini Madness – Backs

And I think I prefer the back of the black and white mini to the front; the clean simplicity of the quilted lines over a black fabric seems pretty striking. I did have fun trying to make very teeny tiny black and white tile blocks, though.

All of these mini quilts finish at 4-inches square except for the gray/orange/blue flying geese mini, which finished at 4 1/2-inches by 4 3/4-inches.

29 thoughts on “Mini Mini Madness

  1. Serena@Sewgiving says:

    Love there Yvonne! They are so cute! and, yes, I definitely like direction when making for others otherwise I end up down a rabbit hole or two stalking in IG and Pinterest 🙂

  2. RuthB says:

    Gosh when you said mini you weren’t kidding! they are very cool, best of goods come in small parcels they say!

  3. kittywilkin says:

    I love that first photo with all of your mini minis arranged around the roses. So gorgeous! I do like some guidance when making for others. When there are at least a couple concrete “likes” to hold onto, I doubt myself a lot less throughout the creation process, since I can say “well I know they definitely like ___ aspect of it.” I have a good kissy of mini minis to make, but fortunately I agree to all swaps with a loose time line. I’m planning to slip in a mini mini between projects, or as inspiration strikes. So fun!

  4. Cindy says:

    Pretty roses and minis. I’m going to miss your cute minis.

  5. What amazing minis. You did an awesome job. I just put mine in the mail to Jayne. I hope she likes it.

  6. I’ve seen all of these coming together on instagram and you hit them all out of the ballpark. I really love how you photographed them with the roses on the table. My 2 favorites in this batch are definitely the Ohm for the quilting and the black and white one for the binding and how it reminds me of the cover art on one of my favorite musical of all time – Chess. (you can see the image on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_(musical)

  7. SarahZ says:

    They are adorable!! I can’t wait to see what you receive back!

  8. Jayne Willis says:

    Each and every one is perfectly perfect! I have had so much fun with these mini mini’s…thanks for getting me hooked…addicted Yvonne! I just sent off a batch and can’t wait to get some back. I found it works good to make some and offer what you have finished. I’m sure I’ll make more just in case…

  9. I love the om symbol one, too. But it’s hard to pick a fave since they are all so great.

  10. Jan O says:

    Such cute mini minis! I especially like the orange/grey/multi one. Your mitered corners look great!

  11. Judy says:

    They are all fabulous, Yvonne! I think I agree, the back of the black and white one is really cool!

    I prefer having some direction. A favorite color, and a least favorite. Some guidelines are good 🙂

  12. Jasmine says:

    Great use for scraps, but I can see why they didn’t make a dent.

  13. Ioleen says:

    All the mini minis are lovely. Thanks for sharing. If I had to choose one, I would pick the one with orange in it. Orange seems to be my go to colour as of late.

  14. Stephanie says:

    I think that of all the things going on the the quilt world now, I am most looking forward to making some if these mini minis. It’s all I can do to restrain myself from ignoring my other responsibilities right now to go upstairs and lose myself in the joy of these mini minus. You have totally inspired me. And I agree, the Om is amazing. I think those would sell like hot cakes.

  15. Rochelle says:

    I am amazed at the patience and creativity that you and others have shown in these mini-minis. They are all beautiful and should be looked at individually for the detail they contain. Thank you for sharing.

  16. I love these and can’t wait to get mine 🙂 I was just writing a post for my mini minis too. Ha! I see what you mean by giving some guidelines. I was one of those “open to anything”, but you got it spot on bc I love the colors you chose (it’s funny bc we worked on the same color scheme) and I love the improv. And I like prints, but I’m more of a Solids girl, so your mini is perfect! 🙂

  17. Each and every one of your minis are adorable! Plus, you did a fabulous quilting design on each one. It would be extremely hard to chose one as a favorite…so, I won’t…they are all great pieces of art! It is easy to say just whatever will be fine, but like you, I have discovered when making projects as a gift it really is easier if you have some ideas and colors to chose from. Thank you for sharing and have a wonderful creative day!

  18. So cute! I really like all of the designs, but the blue with the bit of orange is my favorite. I agree that more direction for swaps can sometimes be better than less. As the swap recipient, you don’t want to seem picky but it really does help to sometimes design something when you have a few constraints.

  19. Miriam says:

    Oh, no! Say it isn’t so! Keep making and posting about minis! You hit them out of the ball park this time! Love the Om! A hint is always nice to start with and evolve from it. Great job!!!

  20. Karen says:

    These are all wonderful, Yvonne! Did you applique “Om” first, or did you create it as you quilted? Either way–it’s just beautiful.

  21. Lisa says:

    I like the back of the black quilt but I also really like the front. The checkered sections look like they are disolving which I think is a nice effect.

  22. Renee says:

    They are all delightful little quilts! I do like having something to inspire me–color, shape, pattern, image, etc. Otherwise I will stalk the person and come up with something.

  23. In a way, it was lucky I was away when all this started. I can easily see myself hooked on the tiny cuteness, and I already have far too many WIPs.
    Your scrap box might not look any emptier, but this is a great way to use up odd batting scraps, right?

  24. Each of these mini minis is beautiful and so unique. My fave is the black and white one. I can see how easily it would be to become addicted to making them!

  25. DeborahGun says:

    These are all so brilliant Yvonne! I am going to have to join in this mini madness when I cross everything else off my to-do list!

  26. This is so great! I’ve been gathering some ideas for mini quilts myself! Thanks for the inspiration!

  27. sally says:

    All so good again, and I can’t choose between the geese and the black/white for a favourite with this batch, I really like the binding on the black/white. Are they all machine pieced? The top two almost look paper pieced. And yes, I was thinking about this ‘to give a helpful brief or not’ issue on your previous post. With the ATCs I always just put ‘I like surprises!’, because I do! But now I’m wondering whether that’s mean! But the trouble is that I really do like surprises, and I like variety and am always happy to see what others would come up with for themselves rather than them trying to make something they think I’ll like. And although when I’ve been the one making I’ve found briefs quite useful in helping me narrow down my choices initially, they do slightly scare me then as to whether I’m sticking closely enough to the brief and interpreting it in the right way. I do kind of prefer to go look at their blogs/pinterest etc and try and get a ‘feel’ for what they like rather than following a word description instead.

  28. These are all so beautiful, Yvonne! I’m hoping mine arrives in the mail soon as I can’t wait to see it in person 🙂 I tend to not give much guidance because I really want to have a mix of styles, colours, etc in what people make for me, though I do prefer to have some guidelines when I’m making for someone else. Maybe I should try being a little more helpful to the people making for me?!

I really appreciate the time and thought you take to comment, and I look forward to conversing with you. :)