July Monthly Mini

I have two minis this month, but they're both "cheats"! 

The first one is my version of Shoofly Sampler, from the book Quirky Little Quilts, by Sheryl Johnson of Temecula Quilt Company. I must have started it close to a year ago, hence my calling it a "cheat" as obviously I did not make it within a month. I did, however, finish it this month, so I'm hoping it sort of qualifies.

my scraps

This quilt was a blast to make, especially since I limited myself to a handful of scraps - literally - for the blocks. The only things I went into my stash for were the background fabric, and the backing and binding. I varied from Sheryl's quilt, adding a few more blocks of my own invention, and changing the shape.
Did I mention it was fun?
It was fun!

And speaking of fun, I've had this very fun yo-yo print in my stash for at least ten years. I thought it was perfect for the back!

The decision to hand quilt this is the main reason it took me so long to finish. These days I have to parse out my hand quilting into half hour sessions, with (ideally) several days in between as to not over stress my hand. This little guy may just be the last piece I completely hand quilt. But not to worry, as I am embracing machine quilting more and more, and loving the results. 

I'm trying to show better detail of the quilting here, but the motifs are pretty obscured. Probably due to the fact that I washed and dried it to achieve the crinkly look, and I kinda regret that now. It looked much better before. I'm learning there's a time and a place for everything, and sometimes less is more.

Next up is this little tumbler quilt, which I pieced a month or so ago, from scraps gifted to me from a friend. I actually made two tops at the time, the first ending up qualifying for my June Monthly Mini. This one sat around a while longer, while I was deciding how to quilt it. I ended up going with the machine hand-quilt stitch, and I think it turned out really good, plus it was fast, and no stress on my hands.

 Nice Barbara Brackman print for the back..

Hand quilting kind of disappears into these busy fabrics anyway. You can see the difference here, with the hand quilted one from last month on the left, and the crisper/bolder machine quilting on the right.

Here are my two July mini's hanging together on the fence. Taking this picture with my ipad in the bright sun was complete guesswork, as all I could see was my reflection on the screen! .

I'm posting this early because I'm going on vacation in a few days. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else has made this month! If you are too, jump over on the 31st to see, at Wendy's blog - The Constant Quilter. 


love,
Sandy