In early December, one of my patrons unlocked their mini mini quilt reward. I was literally days away from putting my sewing machine in a box for our move (and most of everything else in our house was already boxed up), but I reached out to see about making one last thing in my old sewing space before moving. I didn’t hear back from the patron, so I packaged everything up and moved. After the move and tackling renovation in our new space enough to unpack my sewing machine, I reached out and was thrilled to strike up a conversation with them. They requested a cheery make in favorite colors of teal and light gray.
Tiny Piecing
While I was contemplating what to make, I kept also being pulled toward adding in touches of yellow. I wasn’t sure if I would add the yellow as piecing or in the quilting, but I just kept feeling like it needed to be part of the conversation. After reaching out to confirm that it would be okay for a little yellow to make an appearance as well, I pulled out some fabrics and got started piecing. I kept thinking that in addition to cheery, I wanted a lot of joy and positivity to radiate out from this mini mini quilt, so I opted to make plus blocks in varying sizes transitioning from gray at the top of the mini to teal at the bottom.
Cheery Mini Quilt
When it came time to quilt, I stuck with the gray and teal color scheme, and the bright yellow worked its way to the front of the mini mini quilt at the binding sides.
Cheery Mini Quilt
I knew just the place to photograph the tiny quilt, which finished at 5½” square: in the Meyer lemon tree in my orchard! Trust me, the blossoms are fragrant and delightful.
Cheery Mini Quilt – Quilt Back
The yellow polka dot also makes for a very cheery and bright backing for the mini mini quilt.
Cheery Mini Quilt
I hope my patron likes this little mini mini quilt as much I as do. It was the first thing I made after moving and I hope that the joy, cheer, and fun I felt in creating it radiates out of the little quilt.
What a pretty little mini mini, Yvonne! I can imagine your yard is redolent with the aroma of lemons and other fruits. How lovely!
A gorgeous mini and a perfect place for a photo! Can’t imagine having fruits like that growing in my yard. You are certainly in paradise.
Ah the lemon trees bring back memories from 40 years ago. We lived in a subdivision that was built on an old lemon grove. But everything had been flattened and removed. Luckily we were the 1st house on the street right next to the old stone house from the grove. Where, lucky is, the owner had a lot of lemon trees. He was happy to have us take what we wanted. I was tickled to have what seemed to be a never ending supply of lemons. Rambling here. Sorry. Your mini mini is amazing. I like the way you snuck in the yellow. And of course a lemon tree is the perfect place to take the picture.
I must say you created my favorite colors in a beautiful way. It made me smile when I opened it.
Thank you so very much!
Barb
I love aqua and teal – yours look beautiful with the touch of clear bright yellow. I many not be a fan of most warm colors, including yellow, but when you combine them with cool colors, they are gorgeous.
The lemon tree is to die for. Only Mother Nature can make yellow as pretty as the lemons in your tree, surrounded by exquisite shiny leaves. Wish I could smell those blossoms. And I DO love lemon flavor; lemon cake, lemon squares, lemon pie, lemon cookies – yum! I can easily overdose if those goodies are around.
When my brother lived in California many years ago, I enjoyed visiting him and his family when I could. He had a lovely home and lemon trees growing around his back deck. You could simply reach over and pick them easily. Sigh!
You are right…this is a very cheery piece and the touch of yellow makes it more so. I admire your work with those small strips to get the plus signs. I have loved the smell of a lemon tree in my yard when we lived in LA. Thank you for sharing his mini-mini.
What a fun and sunny first finish in your new sewing space!
This is a lovely, happy little quilt. And also, how cool that you have an orchard!
Lovely little make! Gives me inspiration to make some minis – so rewarding!
I love the concept of this design. Great project to start the next step in your quilting journey. Happy sewing in your new space.