Say Hello to the Little One!

I am listening to Eragon by Christopher Paolini.
The dragon is Saphira, the rider is Eragon. Saphira's name for Eragon - Little One.

Finished Flimsy

I have a finish to share. Finishing at just 37.5" square, it is one of the smaller baby quilts I have made.  Hence the name - The Little One.

3" squares of Kaffe Fassett fabric

Made with 3" Kaffe Fassett Squares, some left over from Clay's Quilt and others cut up from 6" Design Strips.

Irish Chain Layout

There is no story in the flimsy. At least, not yet.  The backing on the other hand...

I started this quilt sometime in October last year, after Esmeralda was completed. The flimsy was finished a few months ago but there was no rush to complete the quilt.

The Little One

When Jake mentioned that she was destashing, I agreed to buy some of her fabric. I chose a few solids, some dark prints with vines, and a few polka dot fabrics.  Jake stuffed the box with fabric tighter than a pregnant woman's stretched belly.  When I opened the box, this gorgeous, bright, beautiful fabric just jumped out at me.

Celestial Bodies

The colors are so rich and bright that they shimmer on a black/navy background.
As I noticed the deep red and emerald green, it became clear that these bright colors matched perfectly with the Kaffe Fassett squares in the top. Seems like a miracle for a backing that I did not choose.

Bright Sunny Binding

Now I had to finish it. How could I not? The richness of the fabric beckoned to me. I chose a bright sunny fabric for the binding.

Finished!!!

A small quilt in an infinite universe.

On the banks of Lake Ontario, Canada

The quilt and the lake - shine and shimmer

A backing that depicts the infinite universe for a small baby quilt may seem like a paradox.
But a baby is just that - a universe of possibilities in a little bundle. Say hello to the little one!!!

Niagara by the Lake, Ontario, Canada

Thank you, Sandra (she took the picture)

Who gets that, you may ask.
Well, just as the top and backing found each other, I am sure the quilt will find its home.
The universe is listening.

Labelled

I think it was Albert Einstein who said "There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. "

The Little One

It is obvious that I belong to the second category.  Did anything take you by surprise lately?
I'd love to hear from you. I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties; see full list on the sidebar.

Swirl a Twirl (Free Pattern/Tutorial)

Good News. I won!!!

Thanks to Molli Sparkles who hosted the fabulous international giveaway and Intrepid Thread who sponsored the fat quarter bundle.

There are not 6 or 12 but 24 fat quarters in the full spectrum colors!!! I am so lucky.

The package came very quickly and neatly wrapped.  I recommend you check out Intrepid Thread. Yes, they have fabric (some of it is on clearance), thread, buttons, ribbons, patterns and zippers too.

I impatiently opened the package to caress the beauties!


I know some of you are thinking - you won, that is great.  How is that good news for me?

Well, I have good news for you too.  I have a finish to share and a free tutorial.
Meet Swirl a Twirl.

A simple yet pretty pattern that you can put together in one day.  Let's get started.

Swirl a Twirl (Finished quilt 40.5” by 40.5”). All seams are ¼”

Fabric Requirements 

• Main - 8 assorted fabrics, 6” by WOF
• Background fabric – 30” (or 11 jelly roll strips)

Cutting Instructions

• Main Fabrics - Subcut each 6” strip into 6” sections, four per fabric. We need 32 squares of 6” side. 
• Background - Cut the background fabric into 2.5” strips. We need 11 strips. Jellyroll strips can be used.
• Subcut each 2.5” strip into three 6” sections (need 32) and three 8” sections (need 32).

Block Assembly

1. Stitch the background strips to the main fabric squares, (6” strip first, followed by the 8” strip) making an L-shape. See picture below.
   
   
   
2. Once you have constructed all four L-shaped blocks from one fabric, square them to 8”.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. STARCH and iron.
4. Cut on the diagonal (through the background corner) as shown in the picture. Repeat for the remaining three blocks.
   
   
   
5. You will get two types of blocks – a left block and a right (mirror image) block. Separate left blocks into a stack and the right blocks into a second stack. See picture below.
   
6.  Take one stack and arrange them as shown below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Sew in pairs. Iron towards the background fabric.
   
   
   
   
   
8. To sew the final block together, pin the two halves together, to nest seams. Start sewing from near the center, just above the pin, to the end. Cut thread. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Turn the block over and finish the seam beginning from the middle (slight overlap with stitches) to the end of the block. Cut threads.
   
   
   
10. Iron and trim to 10 ½”
11. Repeat with the other stack.
12. Make all the blocks, using one fabric at a time. You will have 16 blocks.

Quilt Assembly

1. Arrange blocks into four rows by four columns.
   
   
   
2. Piece into rows and then piece the rows together.
3. Layer and quilt.  Square the quilted sandwich.
4. Bind and enjoy.

And if you make this pattern, please let me know. I'd love to see your interpretation of Swirl a Twirl.

Here are a few more pictures of Swirl a Twirl.

I chose this pretty paisley backing. The colors - pink and coral match the front beautifully.

Quilted it simply with a decorative stitch that looks like Cs. 

A green binding makes the quilt pop and matches the backing too. Yay!!!

No, I did not forget the label

The finished quilt is about 40 inches square - perfect for a baby. And if you brought this as a baby shower gift, you will be the instant favorite guest.

Do you like the pattern?  Do you have questions? Ask away and I'll respond in the comments.

I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties.

Have a great Thanksgiving and be safe.

Hugs,

Preeti.

KISS - Keeping it Simply Strippy

This post is modified from the original to remove dead links. The tutorial is unchanged.

Here are the steps to the tutorial.

1. Choose eight strips (6" by WOF) that you love. Arrange them (on your design wall) in a way that adjacent strips have some contrast. For example, you may not want to put yellow next to the white. Alternate light and dark strips.

Fabric Selection - 8 Strips

2. Sew the strips together, along the length, alternating sewing direction.  Stitch Strips (1 and 2), (3 and 4), (5 and 6), and (7 and 8), starting from the top.  Iron the seams to the dark side.

Piecing the Strips

3. Stitch strip sets (1+2) with (3+4), starting from the bottom.  Similarly sew (5+6) with (7+8) starting from the bottom.  Press seams to the dark side.

4. Finally, stitch (1+2+3+4) to (5+6+7+8), starting from the bottom. Press the closed seam in place.  Do not turn it to any side. We want to keep it folded in half, at this time.

Pieced Strips, Folded.

5. While keeping the strip set folded in half at the middle seam, using your rotary cutter, straighten the top and bottom edges. After trimming, you should have at least 42".

Straightened top edge

6. While still folded, cut across the sewn strips into seven sections of 6" each.  See picture below.

7. Now, you can press the central seam to the dark side. Place the cut section on the design wall. See picture.

First Cut Section

8. Place the next cut section, offsetting it about 3" from the end of the first section.  See picture below.  Place all the sections on the design wall, as shown in the picture.

Seven Cut Sections

9. Cut a 3" by WOF strip from black yardage. Cut this strip into seven 6" by 3" rectangles.

Solid Yardage, cut seven 6" by 3" rectangles

Place a 6" black strip at the right end of the top row.  Now keep adding the black strips, alternating the location with each row. The last row will have the black strip on the right.  See picture below.

Offset rows with black rectangles

9. Sew the black rectangle at the row ends, as placed. Sew the seven rows together, once again alternating the sewing direction.

Almost done

At this stage, I turned the quilt top by 90 degrees, to make it fit better on my design wall.

10. Add a 2.5" black border.

Top and Bottom Border added

Finished Flimsy!!!

The finished quilt top is 44" by 52.5".

Step back and enjoy your handiwork!!!

Backyard Picture 

The colors are so bright, they light up my sad backyard.

So pretty

It is a very simple, fast and easy to follow pattern.  And you can make it your own. Use large prints that you'd hate to cut up. Use animal or baby prints for a fun, cute quilt.  Trust me, you can put together this quilt top in one afternoon.

I am in love!!!

Sharing with Mari's Hands to Help Linky Party.  As usual, I'd love to hear your comments.