Miniature quilts are fun to look at and fun to make too! However, there’s more to it than simply making smaller blocks. Minis need more accuracy than full-size quilts. You can ease in a difference of 1/16″ with two twelve-inch blocks. One-inch blocks, not so much. Here are some tips to make things easier for you the next time you tackle a miniature quilt project:
1. Let the sunshine in. Get lots of light—natural sunlight and/or a lamp with daylight bulb.
2. Use tiny tools. They are usually more accurate and less clumsy when working small. Some of my favorites are: 2-1/2″ clear rotary ruler with 1/8″ increments, extra fine tip mechanical pencil, small sharp scissors, Clover Mini Iron, and size 70/10 sharp machine needles.
3. Tightly-woven quilting cottons are the best for miniatures. A thread or two unraveling doesn’t usually make much difference on a full-size block. For a miniature, the width of just two threads could mean the difference between a pointed appliqué star tip and a rounded one, or whether a closely trimmed seam allowance stays together or falls apart in your hands.
4. Choose fabrics with a little extra contrast when working small. Fabrics blend together more when cut into tiny bits of color.
5. Let your fabric do the work for you. Use a checkerboard print to suggest a 16- or 25-patch block, or a striped fabric for multiple borders.
6. Explore your stash. Cut a window template from card stock to preview the many options your fabrics have to offer. Tiny prints are great, but don’t overlook large-scale prints either. You can find many different pieces from just one great large-scale print.
7. Don’t forget the starch. It helps you cut and sew accurately.
8. Piece larger, trim smaller. Many units, such as half-square triangle blocks and four-patch configurations can be sewn at a slightly larger, more manageable size, then trimmed to perfection with a rotary cutter and mini ruler. (The four-patch on the far right is 1-1/2″. Trimmed exactly to 1″ it make an easy and perfect 1/2″ finished block with four 1/4″ squares, near right.)
9. Try paper piecing. It’s an extremely accurate way to stitch complicated mini blocks with lots of tiny pieces, such as a pineapple block. It’s easy to reduce the scale too: just let the photocopy machine do the math.
10. Relax and take frequent breaks. Stretch, focus your eyes on something far away, take a walk. Your body and your miniature quilt will thank you.
I’ve learned a thing or two during the first 12 days of Dear Diary 2010. For example, there are some blocks that I would really rather not make multiples of. A four-inch 16-patch (shown above) is one of them. I don’t mind making one every now and then, and this quilt is the perfect place for it.
The purple and black Square-in-a-Square at right is another one of those blocks I don’t see myself making more of. (The dime is for scale.) It is pieced for real, not painted, stamped or fussy cut. I can’t imagine why I ever made it in the first place, but I can see why there is only one.
