I am so in love with the 'Tall Tales' paper pieced block! I made a several of these blocks for my round of our Round Robin. This pattern is so much fun period! Regular or reduced. Deciding what fabric for the front cover can be as simple as an all over print or a fussy cut motif!
I had a couple special ladies in mind when I made these two Tall Tales mini quilts. My daughter Britt and her best friend Anne. Childhood friends with a life long connection. In fact, it was Anne's Mother who taught Britt how to quilt, and Britt passed her knowledge and love of quilting on to me.
This one is for Britt. I reduced the pattern to 50% and picked a piece of fabric that I bought ages ago! The block measured 2 1/2" x 3 3/4" before the border. I loved the lime green monkeys and especially the one with the little pink bow tie.
With this one, I wanted to have a title for the spine. Something that related to her. When I found 'Sketchbook', I knew it was the perfect, perfect title. She's my little artist! From the time she could hold a crayon she drew and filled many sketchbooks. It was very appropriate!
Anne's was a little more difficult. This one was reduced to 75%, or 3 1/2" x 5 1/4" without the borders. Mission #1 was to find a title for the spine. It took a while but I found another perfect one! I paired it with Heather Ross' Briar Rose and viola! Perfect pairing!
The title is fitting because little Annie just got married! And you know they are both feeling the 'everything's better with you' feeling! They can write their own book together chapter by chapter!
Even though each book is tiny, they needed some kind of special quilting. I took this opportunity to try a new thread option. I've seen so many other people using different weights of thread that one normally wouldn't try. Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl has done this often with amazing success. She inspired me to give it a try. My little mini's are not on the level she does, but I had to start somewhere!
My quilting is as simple as it gets on these! Organic straight lines. I grabbed a spool of Aurifil Off- White 12 weight Wool (#8021) for the top and Aurifil Light Beige 50 weight (#2310) for the bobbin. I was curious, worried and pleasantly surprised at how well it worked with my machine and very pleased with how it looked on the top.
On Anne's book, I added a few lines of Aurifil Bright Pink (#2425) and Spring Green (#1231), both 50 weight. Britt's has the Wool and the Bright Pink.
You can get a better sense of the quilting from the back. I kinda of love this pink and green combination!
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| 5" x 7" |
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| 4 1/4" x 5 1/4" |
I'm telling you! You gotta give Tall Tales a try!! Even at full size it's adorable!
LINKING:
When this quilt was passed off to me for my round, I was pretty excited!! With each round it is becoming more and more amazing. I was also excited and relieved that we would be given two months on this round.
It has a great scrappy feel, but with a sense of direction. Even though this is a Round Robin and there were no specific requests from the 'owner, there is a definite direction with in the color department!
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| 30 1/2" x 30 1/2" |
The last round is full of fun little 'tidbits'! Emily went c-r-a-z-y with her round! The paper pieced butterflies, lady bug, snail, a bee are just too cute! I had to think very hard about my round and where I should take it. Not an easy feat!
And eventually I did come up with an idea, now to execute it! I wanted to keep it simple and bring a little light and airiness in.
Hearts would be rather cute I thought and found a paper pieced pattern that I reduced to meet my needs. You can find this heart and others at Piecemeal Quilts.
These hearts are 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" unfinished. Aren't they cute?! I thought they were the perfect size for this round and the best way to add prints. We all know I'm afraid of prints!!
Of course I needed one more element...something just right, just perfect. The cuteness factor is off the charts!
This is another free pattern available on Craftsy called 'Tall Tales' and is designed by Kate Basti.
I reduced the templates to 75% which made these blocks 3 1/2" x 5 1/4". They were fun to make even at the reduced size.
Have you ever over thought a decision about placement? It can be pretty agonizing! At least it is for me and certainly was with this project.
Hearts were flipped, turned and shuffled. Should they go this way or that, here or there? The books went through the same routine until I couldn't stand it any longer! I made the decision and went with it. Come hell or high water...what's done is done!
That being said...I'm wondering if I should flip the corner books on the bottom! It made sense at the time!
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| 41" x 45" |
Anytime I can paper piece, its a good day! And anytime I can get something done early is even better!
