Thursday, February 14, 2019

February's Mini Quilt

Just in time for Valentine's Day, this little mostly red quilt is a finish.  It is the first in my little series Pieced From Lois's Scraps.  Last year one of our ministry members began bringing in baggies of leftover scraps from a few of her fabulous traditional quilts.  I challenged the group to take the baggie home, choose one additional fabric and create a small quilt top, then return the leftover fabrics for someone else to take and on and on.  Well, as of now, only one other member of the group has taken on the challenge.  This was the pile of scraps when we began:


My friend Nancy created this little top.  I don't know if she has quilted it yet.


And this is the quilt I made.  A lot of red, but I've always loved red, my favorite color as a child.


With several other quilts in the hand quilting queue, I resorted to machine quilting this one.  I had pressed open all those little nine-patch seams which ruled out ditch quilting, so the best option seemed to be vertical/horizontal cross-hatching through all those blocks.  A couple walking foot stitch options in the borders and I called this one done.

I used one of my favorite feed sacks for the back.  There were only a few in my collection and last year I decided to get them out and begin using them.  I love them for small quilt backs.


Three years ago we rooted a new plant from a supermarket pineapple and it has finally decided to grace us with a flower to brighten this bleak midwinter week.  It's still in bud, but looks promising!

Friends who live off the grid on a nearby mountaintop have grown these successfully in their sunroom for years, even harvesting small pineapples occasionally.  Hope we'll be that lucky in a few weeks/months.

Happy Valentines Day!

Linking up with Wendy's Peacock Party.



10 comments:

Debbie said...

Love the red mini! And a perfect day to share it. The backing is great too. have a happy Valentine's Day.

Barbara said...

Very sweet quilt.

Kyle said...

Love your little nine patch quilt. The red setting squares are great and using the same fabric for the borders makes the blocks look like they're floating. The simple grid quilting is all that it needed, but the little added extra in the borders just adds to interest.

Janet O. said...

Oh, Pat, I LOVE challenges like that. :)
I have one laid out on a design board right now. I recently found a small baggie of leftover parts from a couple of quilts that I had lumped together, and I laid them out for inspiration. I am so anxious to play with them, but other things have priority.
Nancy's little quilt is such a clever design.
And your little traditional 9-patch is as sweet as can be!


Pat said...

A dear little mini - absolutely love the tiny 9 patches and what a great shade of red! You have a very green thumb - the pineapple plant looks healthy and vigorous - hope you will have a blossom and can share a photo of it with us!

Wendy Caton Reed said...

A fantastic February mini! I will link it into my post at the end of the month. I can't believe you grew a pineapple! I might have to try that!

FlourishingPalms said...

The quilting you decided to add to your red quilt is just perfect. I always like the beauty and simplicity of straight lines. As for that pineapple... well that's just darned cool! You know, we can grow them here, but it's my understanding that a plant produces only one fruit at a time, and you're fortunate if you get two pineapples from it. We haven't planted any because of that. But for fun, I like what you're trying. I hope that bitty thing gets big and is totally edible. How about a home-grown piña colada?! Just livin' off the land, right? :-)

Nancy said...

Your little 9-patch is beautiful. I love the rhythm 9-patches create when they're two-color, as yours are. How large is this finished quilt, Pat? The challenge to your group members sounds like a fun one. Too bad only two are participating.

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

You've been busy. I do hope your pineapple plant produces some fruit for you. Thank you for linking up to the Peacock Party.

Barbara said...

Love your red February mini with that wonderful feedsack on the back. Your quilting looks great! Hope you get a pineapple from that plant. It looks really healthy!