Springtime Cabin

Now that it has finally found a home, I can share the story of this mini quilt with you all. This is my first finish of 2019, Springtime Cabin!

I made this for a swap. It was a secret swap, meaning we didn't know who was making for us. I did some sketches here after I first signed up for the swap. However when the rules and partner info came through from the host, they specified a minimum of 9 log cabin blocks, and none of those ideas really matched my partner's mosaic of things she liked.

I used these two pics from my partner's mosaic as my starting point (these are obviously not my work or photos - happy to give proper credit to the artists if anyone recognizes them).

Here's my sketch of the new design.

This got positive feedback from the swap group on IG, although the person it was intended for didn't comment. So I decided to stick with this design, and made a test block.
After a very brief, disastrous attempt at machine FPP, I elected traditional piecing. This came out a little wonky, but again the people on IG said they liked that, so I embraced it as part of the design.

Then it was on to choosing fabrics. I definitely wanted to go scrappy with it, and just keep the plain white as a constant. Two Craft Cotton Co bundles that were the perfect colours jumped into my basket at Hobbycraft when I had sworn to myself I was just picking up thread. Also I decided to add to my Tula Pink collection for tulapalooza, and figured it just made sense to get some fabrics that would also work for this project. Especially seeing as Zuma has such a good selection in pink and green. It's a good thing I did make those purchases, because my previous pink supplies were woefully inadequate, and I would have struggled to get enough different greens.
I put this fabric pull on IG, and added some more from my scrap box/purchases as I was going along.

I decided to chain piece all 9 blocks at once. That way I was chopping out a bunch of the same sized strips at once and it was easier to keep up the variety of fabrics.

Piecing was slow going. There were just so many pieces. In hindsight, I should have gone for a much less demanding design. Working on this took over quite a lot from my other sewing projects and got me a bit stressed out about the deadline.  But gradually it came together.

Then on to the quilting! I had very little idea what to do. I toyed with the idea of circles, or with lines to emphasise the pink rectangle shapes created by the colour placement. In the end I went with a suggestion from my mother - quilting just the white sections with lines down the centre.

I love the texture and look that the quilting gives it! I was really happy with that. I chose a green daisy print for the backing that was used in part on the top. I felt it fir nicely with the springtime feel.

And finally binding. I auditioned pink and green fabrics and pink was clearly the better choice. Green would have blended too much into the overall design and have made it look unfinished. Pink was clearly a frame.

So here it is finished! I decided on the name Springtime Cabin, based on a few comments I received on IG that the colour looked like 'a breath of spring'. I took it into my garden for a mini photo shoot.

It was February, so not quite springtime sunshine, but still, it was fun taking the pics.

Unfortunately, by now it was clear that the original intended recipient had not made a mini quilt themselves, and therefore would not be eligible to receive one. So I have to had wait while the swap host and other swappers sorted out the state of play, and finally a new recipient has been found (someone who did make a mini quilt but had not yet received one) so this mini now has a home in Scotland. It's a pity my original partner didn't formally pull out earlier on in the process, so I could be reassigned a partner and actually try and meet the new person's tastes more accurately.

As a swap extra, I made a little matching mug rug. I put the test block together with a Tula Pink frog.

Of course, part the point of a swap is that you also receive a quilt. I received this beautiful one from Florida! I love it, especially the quilting which uses a gorgeous variegated metallic thread in places.

She used both my favourite colour (blue) and fabrics by Alison Glass who I had listed in my info as one of my favourite designers, so she clearly went to some effort to try and match my tastes. I was very touched.

While I enjoyed both the making and the receiving, I am such a slow worker at my sewing that trying to meet the deadline got me a little too stressed out, made worse by some recent health issues. There were a couple of times when I nearly pulled out of the swap. And this swap had a generous timeline as these things go. I have therefore decided not to participate in any more mini quilt swaps for the foreseeable future (although block swaps and hexie swaps are by no means ruled out). I would like to be clear that I have no hard feelings towards the host for the delay in finding me a new partner - if things were different I would happily participate in more of her swaps. Hopefully in a couple of years improved health and improved skills will let me join in the fun again.

Thanks for reading!

Linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and the Peacock Party