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Saturday, February 3, 2018

Final small quilt swap of 2017

Yep, you read that right--I said 2017. So what, if it happened in January 2018?
Early last year I had set up 4 swaps with blog friends, and Julie and I would be ending the year with a November swap. For a variety of reasons, we each needed to extend the deadline, more than once. This week it finally happened. Look at this beauty that arrived at my house!
Can you believe it? Those little 9-patches are only 1 1/2" finished! And it is hand quilted, to boot! Here is a glamor shot.


Julie has made an entire big quilt out of those tiny blocks! What was she thinking? LOL You can find the pattern for it on her website, here.
I'm thinking I am pretty lucky to have this sweet thing. Take a peek at the gorgeous backing fabric.


There were some other goodies in the package, too.
There were Deb Strain note cards, and one of those wonderful spray bottles that you are going to want, if you don't already. I just purchased one at retreat last month for water. Now I have one for my Best Press, as well! You can find them on Julie's website.
Thank you, Julie for a marvelous swap!



And what did I send to Julie? This mini feathered star went to her house this week. The star finishes at 5 1/2". I can't recall for sure, but I think the whole thing is around 12" square.



Here is the glamor shot for this little thing.



This was made with a foundation piecing pattern designed by Cindi Edgerton. The pattern was sent to me by my sweet friend, Annie M., and I have been wanting to try it for some time.







I knew her patterns were printed on tissue paper, and I was interested to see how well it worked. I have to say that it didn't work well for me. The tissue paper wasn't stable enough for the precision I was seeking. So I copied the pattern onto sheets of newsprint. It is solid enough to be stable, but easy enough to tear away when you are finished. I bought a pack of 500 sheets on Amazon 4 years ago, and I don't think I am even halfway through it. Very reasonably priced. You can find it here.
You can see to the right how wrinkled the tissue paper pattern was after pressing--and I didn't even use steam. You can also see how flat the newsprint paper foundation is after stitching and pressing it. I ended up having to draw a foundation for the border I wanted, and copied it onto the same newsprint.
 Got the top completed November 8, 2017, and ditch stitched it soon afterward, but the rest of the quilting didn't happen until this week. Just couldn't decide how to quilt it.

I tried a new-to-me thread for some of this project, which I will report on later. This is too long already. Also, I took photos of the binding process to answer some questions I have received over the years about binding minis. That tutorial will be coming up.

Thanks, again, Julie, for such a great swap.  I am thrilled with my little 9-patch quilt!

Until next time, 
Janet O.


It was cloudy here when the eclipse of the super moon occurred, but the evening before, I caught the moon coming up over the mountains.





39 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Her nine patches are amazing....but then you sent her an amazing star! Both winners.

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  2. Those beauties were worth the wait! Love the backing fabric and beautiful quilting. I watched the moon while driving to work--the wonder of the universe at its best.

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  3. Wow! Both little quilts are gorgeous! Glad things finally settled down so you could finish the swap.
    I can see how tissue paper would be too flimsy for anything but a very simple design.
    Gorgeous photo of the moon!

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  4. Great new postcard! I really love my little quilt and am sooo happy that we were finally able to swap (I think we started talking about this 3-4 years ago!). Thanks again for everything!

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  5. Two very lucky ladies! Beautiful little quilts.

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  6. Beautiful pic of the moon over the mountain! You are blessed to see such beauty. Those quilts are incredible. Those tiny squares are perfect and your new gift quilt is beautiful. And I love the one you sent to her.... blue always catches my eye. I can see how the tissue paper would have been difficult to work with. I'm sure both of you are very happy girls with your swap!

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  7. Wowzer what a fabulous swap - on both sides. Your feathered star is so sparkly and precise! thanks for the tip about the newsprint. I like honest product reviews.
    Nice goodies from Julie - including that spray bottle.
    Oh what a great photograph of the moon coming up. You captured a beauty there.

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  8. Wow wow wow! What is the size of the nine patch quilt. Love it all.

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  9. Wonderful quilts to swap. That feathered Star is amazing.

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  10. Oh la la....1 1/2" !! And this feathered star....Awesome !
    Ladies, you've made both 2 wonderful quilts ! Congratulations !

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  11. Both quilts are equally amazing...love, love, love!

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  12. OMGoodness! Such fabulous swap treats! What if I swapped with myself? Then I could have BOTH!! LOL
    Tiny pieces are the best!!
    ( great idea on the newspaper paper, I must check into that )

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  13. I love both of those little quilts! I’ve had that same feathered star pattern for years and afraid to begin because of the tissue paper. It never occurred to me to print it on newsprint, doh. Thanks for the great tip. I might just have to begin this little star this week.

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  14. Amazing tiny and perfect looking minis! What treasures. I missed the eclipse but watched it on the Griffith Observatory page!!

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  15. What a lovely quilt from Julie! How fun :)
    I really love the quilting you chose to do on your feathered star!

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  16. Lovely, lovely minis! Your feather quilting always stirs my heart. It's perfect on this beautiful block. Thanks for the newsprint tip!

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  17. WOnderful quilts. I am so drawn to the 9 patch. Your quilting on the feathered star is beautiful. Such great eye candy. Thx for sharing!

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  18. Two absolutely gorgeous quilts! I really love that quilting motif you used in the setting triangles and corners of your star block. You achieved an amazing loft/texture with the quilting, simply wonderful. Thanks for sharing the newsprint tip and link.

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  19. You ladies and your mini quilts just amaze me, Janet! The precision required and the perfect results -- wow! Both quilts are beautiful.

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  20. Both swap quilts are beautiful. I love the feathered star. Hugs

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  21. Wow what beautiful mini quilts, both the one you sent (amazing quilting) and the cute nine patch you received. Love the look of the spray bottle, must see if I can get them locally.

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  22. Both quilts are magnificent! The two of you both made and received spectacular mini quilts! Pats on the back for both of you!

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  23. I love the backing on the pretty little quilt you received. All those tiny pieces! Your moon shot is so pretty ... I always have such a hard time taking good moon pics! :)

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  24. Both of those quilts are absolutely gorgeous! You were a good match for each other.

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  25. Gosh Janet ! Both those quilts are so stunning!! And I adore that backing fabric, it looks like a toile? Your moon photo turned out wonderful ... would make a great postcard.

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  26. 1 1/2"......????? nine patch blocks! Holy smoke, how little can you go? EVER so cute though! Fantastic moon photo.

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  27. Wonderful feathered star you did! Lovely quilting really enhancing the design. And I recognized the little 9 patch pattern immediately...I did mine in 2009 to mark my 65th birthday. It is probably one of my most favorite ever. Love the scale of the 1 1/2” units. You are right, thin tissue paper is not stable like newspaper weight papers.

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  28. Love your swap quilts. Those are teeny, tiny 9-patches. I'll have to check out that bottle. Your Mini Feathered Star is amazing. Great job, Janet.

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  29. Goodness both little quilts are gorgeous!!!! You ladies did amazing jobs!!!!
    Blessings...

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  30. Janet, what great swap results! Of course, the feathered star is one of my favorite all-time blocks! And I love the 9 patches you received. What a great job both of you have done!!!
    And I love the idea of the newsprint for foundation piecing. I'll have to give that a try!
    Love your moon picture!

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  31. What a fabulous swap Janet....both quilts are beautiful - not only are those 9-patches tiny - your foundation pieced hst must have been pretty midget too! Beautiful quilting by both of you too. Interesting what you say about the tissue paper...I've only ever used photocopy paper - tissue does seem very fragile in comparison. Lovely moon photo..we were too cloudy here to see anything sadly.

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  32. Gorgeous moon photo!
    And the swap quilts are fabulous! Both are incredible!
    I have a couple of those tissue paper patterns and have wondered about the stability of it.
    Thanks for the info!

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  33. Looks like a good trade to me. Your feathered star is very well done including the quilting. I had a tissue pattern a number of years ago and it did not work well for me either. I told myself I would never purchase another. I don't even remember what the design was as I threw the whole project away.

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  34. Both quilts are gorgeous! Love the paper too. I've paper pieced on the tissue and it is too light.

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  35. What a wonderful swap. They are both fantastic. Your feathered star boggles my mind. What precision!

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  36. Ohhhhhh my goodness!! Both of those swap quilts are beyond fabulous!!! You are a couple of lucky girls!! :-)

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  37. Both the minis are amazing..... And we had some stunning moon rises here to ......

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  38. 2 awesome little quilts...such precision and execution....

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  39. wow! Your swap quilters are absolutely fabulous!! Both are treasures for sure!

    Please forgive me for not keeping up with your blog! It seems the days get away from me!

    Blessings and hugs!💗💗

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