Food, Love, and Fabric

OK, first things first.  I'm linking up to Rachel's  Scrap Attack with this little number.  I have long been an admirer of the plus quilts floating all over quilty blogs and have wanted to try one for ages.  I used Jeni's tutorial to follow the layout grid, and just cut them to the size I wanted to make a mini version. Actually, when Rachel first started talking about the Festival of Scrappiness, I had planned to do an x and + quilt...which indeed I am doing.  See?

But MY STARS that block takes me for-evvver so I quickly realized I wouldn't be done in time.  But then I saw that minis were acceptable, which was just the gentle push I needed to attack the plus pattern.  I love how it turned out!  Be sure to check out the other links - so many great projects all made with leftover fabric.  I love it when pretty meets practical.

Modern Mini Day!

 OK, technically, modern mini night around these parts right now, but there's still a little bit of time left to enter Jennifer's Modern Mini Challenge!  What fun it's been to follow along on the blog hop and be so inspired by everyone's creativity.  Here is what I made - A vertical mini version of Beach Glass from this book:

It measures 23" across by 24.5" long.  Here is a detail shot of the quilting.  I was going for a wavy look to go with the beachy theme.

A view from the back...the thread is a teal color, which I liked with all the soft solid colors.

And I added hanging corners based on Amy's BRILLIANT demonstration with her mini...seriously - so easy!  And I put them in three of the corners so it can be hung either vertically or horizontally.  

This quilt was made for a friend of mine who has long supported me in many ways over the years.  It is a belated birthday present and she plans to hang it in her office.  Love you MB!!

BUT, this wasn't going to be what I showed you today!  My plan was to make THIS:

But, alas, not all plans succeed.  I had it all done except for the circles...and I had planned to inset them (as in, cut a hole out of the background).  It is ...um...difficult to inset small circles (at least, it is for me!).  So, then I tried to applique, which I've never really been all that great at and I wasn't happy with how it turned out.  I tried and tried...and couldn't figure out WHY ON EARTH my circles weren't turning out right.  I've done the inset technique before, so what was the deal?!  After I had given up on the idea, I realized one of my sweet little cherubs had changed the tension on my machine!!  OK, feeling better once I figured that out, but still, it was too late to complete this mini for the challenge.  Oh well, another time!  

Thanks again, Jennifer, for hosting a great challenge - It's been so fun!