Mini January Quilt

I've been wanting to play with the January Quilt block since, well, January when Liz Harvatine released it out into the world. When I saw it on the mosaic that my partner, Hilarie, had on her instagram feed for the Schnitzel and Boo mini swap, I decided to go for it. I felt doubly lucky that Hilarie's favorite colors are navy, aqua, green and gray - my favorites, too! - and that we share the same taste in fabric. It made making this mini extremely enjoyable.

The background fabric is by Alexia Abegg from her Paper Bandana line for Cotton and Steel. I stashed 6 yards of this back when it was released. (I have used it ALL. Insert sad emoji here.) It is the perfect neutral for the way I like to sew and I was thrilled to use it for this mini. It adds interest without competing with the prints. The other prints are a mix of scraps and stash. Many of the pieces are small so this block is wonderful for scraps and fussy cutting treasured bits of fabric. The piecing is pretty easy. Yes, they are curves, but they are gentle curves and with a little pinning and some deep breaths, you can do this. Slow and steady is my mantra with things like this, with slow being the key word as it is not a fast make. Still, I loved sewing it. My favorite part? The block finishes larger than necessary and then trimmed down to size so any wonkiness or the like is taken care of painlessly.

I would like to make this quilt again, albeit in a much larger size. That doesn't fit into my new sewing plan, which is to finish all the unfinished things laying around the studio. (A girl can dream!) I can just envision this made in Liberty prints, can't you? And I happen to have a stack of those waiting to be made into something fabulous. I know I would have to set out to make a block a day or some other such system to get it done because it takes time to do it right. Maybe in January? Seems fitting.