Gardenvale Mini Quilt

A couple of weeks ago, I put the finishing touches on this mini quilt made from Gardenvale fabrics by Jen Kingwell. It was a satisfying, small project and I had a lot of fun making it for my partner Jenny.

This one is easy to do, too. It's just 5" charm squares in pairs to make half square triangle blocks that finish at 4". Once the heart was sewn up, I added some extra white borders to make the mini a little bigger. I outline quilted the heart with my walking foot and then free-motion quilted the inside of the heart with a paisley-ish design. It was my first time doing this free-motion pattern and I completely admit that I winged it. I think it came out just fine and it was good to know that if I really messed up, I wouldn't have a large area to rip out.

I continue to believe that the mini quilt is a great way to try new techniques, experiment and just have fun. It's doesn't require any kind of huge commitment supply-wise or time-wise. It works well with scraps or small, precious pieces of fabric that you don't know what to do with. Also, it's great for using up all those batting scraps!

Tell me...have you made a mini quilt? What is your favorite thing about them? I'd love to hear about any patterns or techniques that you find to make a beautiful mini. Dish! I'm all ears!