A couple of months ago I was in a swap on DSD’s. We were each to send 30 identical 6 1/2″ squares of fabric and we would get back 30 different squares of fabric (including one of the ones we sent). I think I just made that sound more confusing than it actually was. Anyway, it was fun to get all of those different squares of fabric in the mail.
Well, I kept trying to decide how I was going to use the squares, but hadn’t come up with anything until last week. I bounced a few ideas off of Ariel of The Creative Juices of Ariel (Go check out her blog!). I decided to make mini quilts for my two littlest guys for Christmas. (The quilt pictured above will be for my youngest.)
First, I cut those 30 squares of fabric into fourths. I used 2 each on this quilt. It is 2 sided, but the squares are arranged differently on each side. After piecing both sides I quilted them together with some horizontal rows of stitching. It was my first attempt at actual quilting, other than stitching in the ditch. It is by no means perfect, but it was fun. I hope that it will be entertaining for my son to look at all of the interesting objects.
I almost forgot some of the details. The squares were each 3 1/4″ prior to sewing. I used a 1/4″ seam allowance. The finished size of the mini quilt ended up being 14″ x 17″. I made a 1/2″ binding out of some animal fabric to keep with the I-spy theme. For the batting, I used some fleece fabric instead of batting. It made the quilt very sturdy. I am hopeful to finish my other son’s mini quilt this week. I will post pictures when I do.
