Make Mine Mini (In Scope, Not Size)

By Vicki Tymczyszyn

I know many of you look at patterns in magazines, on blogs or in stores and see a technique or a design you would like to try, but it just seems too complicated. Or too big. Or too time-consuming. Maybe I have a solution: Rather than try the entire quilt, why not make just one or two blocks? Pick the ones most interesting to you and cut them out and put them together.

Maybe it will be the perfect gift for a new friend, a beginning of a challenge project or even a swap of some kind. It doesn’t matter! How you interpret the design is what makes it special to you.  I have been collecting patterns for years and I don’t always make the entire pattern. Sometimes I just use one piece in another quilt entirely or  I use the colors for inspiration. (Okay, I know this can be easier now that we have Pinterest, but this is how I did it “in the dark ages” pre-Internet.)

Until recently, I was technical editor of GenQ , and you have now idea how tough that was. Not the work, mind you, but I got to see all of the ideas coming into the magazine while we are trying to put issues together, and I wanted to make nearly every single one!  No one has that much time, even me! So, I narrowed my love to one idea, and then I made it mine. For example, from Issue 1 (our debut issue, still available on our website) I took Melissa Peda’s design, Love in the Afternoon, and fussy-cut the center medallion, including the corners, and used white in the rows between the scrappy rows. (I was fortunate that my local shop just happened to have the actual medallion and border fabric that Melissa used in her design.)

Vicki's version of Love in the Afternoon by Melissa Peda.

In our second issue (which featured Lynn Harris’ daughter, quilt and farm on the cover; also available on our website), I fell in love with Schoolhouse Rocks quilt by Amy Ellis. Here was my twist: I did it full-size, but substituted black and white prints for the house shapes and blue, green, yellow and hot pink prints and graphic plaids for the chain blocks. Mine is similar, but I like the graphic quality of the black and white offset by the colorful chain.

Vicki's version of Modern Table Runner by Emily Herrick

In our third issue (Thomas Knauer and daughter Bee, plus his quilt…yeah, check our website), I absolutely fell in love with Lynn’s Flower Power quilt, but because I have been doing lots of work with hexagons these days, I created hexagons for the flowers and appliqued them onto an off-white background. (I told Lynn I was going to do this, and she loved the idea!) I just saw hexagons when I looked at her flower design, so I ran with it. Mine is in batiks, a weakness of mine, but otherwise it has a very similar feel to Lynn’s original design.

Vicki's version of Lynn Harris' Flower Power.

From our Spring 2013 issue,  I so wanted to make Modern Mix-Up by Emily Herrick, but again, was short on time. Emily’s design is a lively modern sampler with nine different blocks. Check out  the pattern here.) So, here was my compromise: I cut out two of Block #1 and added some white between and voila! A nice table runner! I used solids I had purchased for a Modern Quilt Guild block challenge so my colors are different from hers, as well.

So, next time you see something that makes your palms itch, but your heart sinks because your  sew-time is scarce, don’t automatically give up. Use these ideas to make something your own and modify it for your time schedule.  And share, why don’t you? We’d love to see how you recreate our ideas and designs to make them your own.

Let me tell you about one reader who has the same view about changing a project’s size or color to fit her time or stash. Anne Frascarelli (best buds with our associate editor, Teri Lucas) made her own version of Tara Faughnan’s Fireworks, which was originally featured in our July-August 2014 issue. Anne made this quilt pictured below for her guild’s (Village Squares Quilters) challenge for its upcoming quilt show.  Each participating member received some of the fireworks fabric in the background. Anne filled in with lame and printed woven polyester then quilted with Sulky metallic for added sparkle.

Anne Frascarelli's version of Tara Faughnan's Fireworks

 Quilt. Sew. Live. Breathe.