I spent a lot of time being a mini swap avoider. I just didn't get the appeal. I would join fabric swaps and block bees, but why would I want a mini? (It's not like I enjoy quilts and have an abundance of blank walls in my house.)
That was until I saw all the awesome things that were being made during the second round of the Schnitzel and Boo swap. Seriously, every single mini was awesome and I wanted them all. But it was too late for that swap, and while I was being sad, the IG Mini Swap started up. I signed up immediately!
After a stressful wait, I finally got my partner's info. I was a little bummed, because she wasn't one of those super active Instagrammers. I worried that I wouldn't have enough to go on, but I started pulling together some ideas.
My partner liked aqua and gold, triangles, asymmetry, and her website looked very clean and modern. So I pulled all of my gold and aqua fabrics, added some gray for good measure. I went with a cream for a background color, because the white just looked to harsh.
I sketched out a doodle of this, then cut triangles out of paper that were the size that I wanted. I laid that triangle on the fabric and cut 1/4 inch past the paper triangle, stitched them together in rows and was shocked that it seemed to work. There are a few spots where I lost triangle sides, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.
I bought some heavier gold and aqua thread with the plan that I would background quilt in white and then do some hand stitching in color, but once I had the mini basted, I just didn't like that idea anymore. Instead, I went with wavy lines over the whole thing, mostly with the white, but with stripes of the gold and aqua threads here and there. When I was done, I realized it was wind blowing over mountains! Aw!
Now this mini has a home on the wall in my partner's sewing space. It perfectly matches her wall, and it looks very happy there.
Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday and Val for TGIFF!
What a lovely mini, and it sounds like the improv nature of your design worked out really well. I hope your partner really likes the finished mini; I love the imagery of "wind over mountains". :)
ReplyDeleteLove the colour scheme and the quilting is perfect for it. I'd be very happy to receive this!
ReplyDeleteTHIS is almost exactly what I was going to say! Seriously...I really would love it too!
Deletehow lovely! I always miss the signups for these swaps but want to participate so badly!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Mary! I love that the quilting makes it look like wind over the mountains. My poor partner is still waiting for her quilt to arrive...hopefully soon.
ReplyDeleteLove your mini and your quilting! I especially like the triangles pieced from a couple different fabrics.
ReplyDeleteNon-active IGers are tricky. I always worry they don't like what I'm making because I figure if they DID like it, and were checking the swap tags they would like my pics but then since they're not active, then maybe they're not even checking or have signed in... ahhh! One swap I'm doing at the moment, my partner hasn't even acknowledged the swap in her feed but has posted mosaics etc for other swaps she's doing. I know I could use those mosaics too but then I don't want to step on the toes of her other partners! But then she has liked and commented on other people's swap stuff for the swap she's my partner for -- but not my posts that are actually for her! So she's obviously checking stuff but why isn't she liking what I'm trying to make for her?? :( :( Another swap partner commented something random on her mini when I posted a pic of it but hasn't liked the pic, or any other pics of it from my feed so I don't know if she likes it since she was only commenting on something I said :/ Talk about stress!
I do get super excited when a partner does like a pic of their mini I'm working on and then I know I'm on the right track! It's like big ding ding ding noises go off in my head lol.
Hi Mary...I found your blog by hosting TGIFF and added myself as your newest bloglovin follower!! Looking forward to seeing your future creations. Stop by again soon and hope ya follow too! Val:) myplvl.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI love the gold, cream, and aqua color scheme; the wavy quilting; and the triangles of different proportions. It's such a great design without over-complication.
ReplyDeleteI love this so much! It's so unique - using different colored threads for the quilting is always such a cool look!
ReplyDeleteThat is one lovely mini. I really like your choice of colors, pattern and quilting. Well done!
ReplyDeleteLove the curvy quilting and color scheme! Nicely done.
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