Thursday, April 28, 2016

The Minis Blog Tour with Pat Bravo and a Giveaway




Good Morning!!! I am really excited to share my mini quilt I made for The Minis Blog Tour with Pat Bravo using her beautiful fabrics. 
A few weeks ago, on Instagram, designer Pat Bravo had a post where she asked all the makers out there if they would like to sew along with her. I jumped at the chance and put my name in the hat to be part of the blog tour. I was really happy and honored to be chosen...and then I got really nervous.


I got to work with the blush colorway from Pat's Essentials II line. It was so pretty!

Right away I set the stripes aside for binding.


I also received  the Dare to be Bold colorway from Pat's Dare line. It is such gorgeous fabric and played beautifully with Essentials II.

I knew right away I wanted to make a Grandmother's Fan quilt. I hadn't made one in about 10 years. That quilt was for my daughter and the pinks I was working with for this mini really reminded me of that quilt. I also knew that I wanted it to have a modern feel to it. I wanted to step outside my box a little. I started by cutting the blades of the fan with scissors improv style. It was fun but they all looked very similar in size and not very improvish at all. That's okay though. I'm really happy with the way they turned out. They finish at 4"!!! I love how mini they are.

I wanted to use all the fabric and I did. But I had to continually tone the quilt down as I went. Here is my initial layout. I mixed the 3 Grandmother's Fan blocks with several four-patch blocks and squares. I wanted to showcase the fabrics but it was a little busy for what I wanted. 

I started taking out some of the printed squares and used white solid in their place. It was coming along but I still was unsettled. It was one of those moments where what you envisioned wasn't happening. I had used all of the fabric within the 6 Fan blocks and I wanted to focus on them but the layout was wrong. 

And so after going outside to play with the kiddos for a little. I came back in to work and decided to separate the fan blocks. I rearranged them and I liked that. But I wanted a more clean, crisp look with a bit more order to it.


I took out all of the printed squares and left the four-patch blocks along with the fans. I was really happy with this final layout! (sorry for the bad lighting)


I have been wanting to try quilting the Baptist Fan pattern for so long. I thought now might be a good time to try it in keeping with the whole fan thing :) I didn't mark any lines. So it doesn't look like the traditional quilting pattern. I used my free-motion foot and just decided to wing it. My lines are wobbly in some places and quite uneven but I really enjoyed the process. 


Here is the stripe that I saved for the scrappy binding. I took a quick shot of this because I loved the pretty speckled pink dots next to the stripes! Isn't it so simple and pretty?! Both of these prints are definitely "essentials".

Here is the full shot of it! I used a few pops of the more saturated pink floral in the binding. 

The hand of the fabric along with the quilting make such a wonderful texture for this quilt. 


This was such a fun quilt for me. 


I'm happy it turned out pretty much how I envisioned it even though I had my doubts for a second there.


Now it's hanging in my daughter's room. She asked if she could have it and of course I said yes! I am always overjoyed when my family likes what I make. 

Thanks so much to Pat Bravo for the beautiful fabric and the chance to participate in such a fun blog tour!

Here is a list of the other participants. Be sure to check out all of the pretty minis being made!
 
Monday April 25
Laura Piland

Courtney Zadik

Tuesday April 26
Katie Skoog

Stacey Gibson

Wednesday April 27
Amanda Woodruff
A Crafty Fox

Jessica Stewart

Wednesday April 28
 Erin Cox
Why Not Sew

Anjeanette Klinder
Anjeanette K

Friday April 29
Aimee Leptick
The Little Bird Designs

 Sharla Krenzel
Thistle Thicket Studio

Monday May 2
Christine Blessing
Cblessing0

Cat Noonan
Tincat13

Tuesday May 3
Sarah Overton
My Crowded Nest

Jyoti Haeusler
Sewn Modern Crafts

Wednesday May 4
Faith Essenburg
Sarana Ave

Lesley Storts
Storts Market

Thursday May 5
Ellen Ault
Hand Made 3d

Michelle Bartholomew 
Michelle Bartholomew 

Friday May 6
Kate Basti
Katebasti

Kate Lyons
Modern Makerie

Monday May 9
Cindy Guch
Raspberry Sunshine

Name: Lucy
Skinny Malinky Quilts

Tuesday May 10
Marija Vujcic
Marijas Fabricreations

Isabel Kelly
Lamb and Wolfie

Wednesday May 11
Samantha Green
For The Love of Fabric

Tara J Curtis
Tjaye

Thursday May 12
Samantha Dorn
Aqua Paisley Studio

Maja Wlusek
Betyipiernaty

Friday May 13
Jemima Flendt
Tied With a Ribbon

Kerry Smith
Thats Sew Kerry

I am also giving away a pretty scrap bundle of the fabrics I used for my mini. Just leave a comment to enter!

Happy Sewing!
xo Erin


47 comments:

mumbird3 said...

Loved your mini! It has an old fashioned look to it! I like striped binding too!

Martina said...

I just love the fans popping up! Very sweet quilt! Thanks for sharing!
Hugs Martina

Michele T said...

Oh my goodness!! Your mini quilt is lovely!! I am going to enjoy this hop!!!

KaHolly said...

Erin, it came out just darling! What fun to explore all the possibilities! My daughter claims a lot of what I make! And she requests more! I love it!

Anita said...

Your mini is gorgeous; the quilted baptist fans over the Grandmother's ones makes it perfect!

Alice Ronne said...

Adorable! Is it only me who sees the fans as butterflies? Thanks for sharing your process from start to finish. akronne17@gmail.com

Jocelyn said...

What an adorable mini. Love the fabric.

Pat Bravo said...

This is beyond adorable! ♥♥

Lori Smanski said...

this is wonderfully adorable. I love that you shared the process with us. thanks.yes i love it also when family and friends really love what i make.
thanks for the give a way.
quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

Vicki H said...

Very lucky daughter to hang such a pretty fan quilt in her room. Lovely quilting.

April Shae said...

I love that you free motion quilted baptist fans. And that even though they are not perfect, they are beautiful! It gives me courage to attempt them myself! Love your mini quilt!

Anonymous said...

LOVE YOUR QUILT! THANKS FOR SHARING ON YOUR BLOG! THANKS FOR A GREAT GIVEAWAY TOO! msstitcher1214@gmail.com

Christine N said...

Hi There - adorable quilt! Thanks for sharing your design process as well.

Eliza said...

Love and colors

Kelly O. said...

what a beautiful composition! I am loving how you did the Dresden fans.. so feminine!

barbara woods said...

love your mini

Unknown said...

I love all the pinks in this fabric line

Pauline said...

Stunning - I love the fans and the fabric is divine. I might give this a go myself. Thanks for sharing

Kathleen said...

I love how you took the time to arrange and rearrange. The final product looks great!
kakingsbury at verizon dot net

OhioLori said...

Love your Mini!! You did an Awesome job..and quilting is Amazing! Beautiful lil' quilt! looove it!! :)

cottonpaperflowers said...

I love your mini and that youve tried the fan quilting pattern. I am always much intriged by it, but never tried it myself. You may have convinced me on just trying! Thank you for the chance to win some scraps. The fabric is wonderful and truly shines in your layout.
cottonpaperflowers at gmail dot com

Katy M said...

I love your quilt and the fabrics you used are gorgeous 😊

Unknown said...

thank you for sharing the process of designing your mini. my biggest challenge is designing the quilt. thank you for sharing .

Lisa England said...

So lovely! No wonder your daughter wanted it! I enjoyed seeing your process of making this, thanks for sharing.

Clothed in Scarlet said...

Why thank you for a chance on your give away! Love your mini and the quilting! One of my first quilting memories of my Granny was a quilt that she was going to quilt in the Baptist fan pattern ;o) "memories" warms the heart! Sarah

Kaylee said...

It's so sweet. Love the mini quilts.

Kristin said...

Well done! I love this mini and how your shared your design process.

Unknown said...

Delightful colors! I love using pink tones and mixed with black gray and blue keeps them from looking too girly. Great job!

traditional_quilter said...

I love your mini quilt! The fabrics are lovely. I love your mini fans and the fan quilting looks great. Have a wonderful day, Lisa
traditionalquilter@gmail.com

rrjane011749 said...

Love the colors, the fabric, the quilting, the design. It's so gorgeous!

Donna W said...

Love your mini. The fabrics are fantastic!

vicki said...

Love your mini! Now I want to make a fan mini with a saying in the middle and the fans on the outside. Or one of my daughter's great pictures in the middle. Thanks for the chance to win! Beautiful fabric! vickise at gmail dot com

Catskill Quilter said...

I love your mini! The quilting is stunning and adds so much to the design!

Quilting Tangent said...

Cute mini quilt. 24Tangent@gmail.com

Beth said...

Love the fan design and the striped binding

Allison C said...

Love your design and the colors in these prints!

Deb said...

Hi Erin, I always love your work, and this quilt is just perfect for a little girl's room. I'd love to win your scraps.

Edige said...

I just love this quilt!

Kathy E. said...

It is great when someone loves the projects you make! I love your mini too! The quilting is so pretty on it with the arched curves. Great work!

Kathy H said...

Beautiful mini. Looks so bright and cheerful. I love it when someone likes the quilt as much as I do.

Susan F said...

Such fun energy with this quilt! I love the fans and the print you chose for the binding! Thank you for sharing!

Sheryl said...

Beautiful mini quilt, the colours are lovely.

Kris Van Allen said...

Love the white space on the quilt. And the stripes are perfect for the binding!

Unknown said...

So pretty always a fan of pink

Brenda said...

You did the right thing by simplifying the background in my opinion. The quilt is lovely and really sets off the little fans. And using the Baptist fan to quilt it echoes the Dresden fans. Am so glad your daughter loved it to, and hope you continue to have memories of ALL the quilts you've made for her, big or little!

Gill said...

So pretty - I love the striped binding!

Margaret said...

I love the combination of colors you used in this quilt. Very striking, and yet friendly-looking.

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