Now - on with today's tutorial for my 'There's a Bear in There' mini, made with Marti Michell templates.
I had clearly been living under a quilting rock, as I had not come across the magical Marti Michell templates prior to joining Angie on the Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt Sew-along. I was a very quick convert and have very much enjoyed the opportunity to discover new ways of using them through this Marti Michell Mini Quilt Blog Hop - please click through to read all about the hop on Angie's blog. All the bloggers' links appear there, and also at the end of this post. And here is the link to Marti's shop - the home of the templates and also her fabulous book 'More Bang for the Buck' - it's a total must-have if you love Marti's templates and would like to learn how to use them in your regular quilting life.
When it came time to create my mini, I'd been having a minor obsession with square-in-square blocks. It was also around the time that Play School's 50th Birthday celebrations had been on TV (along with a bunch of awesome short celebratory videos on You Tube!) - so I came up with 'There's a Bear in There'. If you're not familiar with the Play School song, here is their home page.
'There's a Bear in There' mini quilt details
Finished size 22" square
Templates used - Marti Michell A + B sets.
Fabric (specific requirements are detailed below):
- four fussy cuts and various coordinating scraps for your square-in-square blocks.
- various scraps for your square-in-square borders - no bigger than 2.5" x 10.5" will be needed for any one piece.
- strips for your sashing.
- 24" batting.
- 24" backing fabric.
- 2.25" x WOF for binding - cut and join three WOF strips. You won't need the full amount, so will have a small amount left over for another binding project.
Please note - I am assuming you know how to quilt and bind a mini, and so have not given instructions for that, other than fabric requirements. This mini lends itself to either machine or hand quilting, so please go ahead and quilt to your heart's desire. I chose a low volume binding, so the mini would 'run off the edge' rather than be framed by it - again, please choose whatever coordinating or contrasting binding leaps out at you from your fabric stash.
Marti Michell templates + cutting instructions
Each of the four blocks uses different Marti Michell templates from the A and B sets. Below is a full photo of the finished mini, plus a full diagram of the mini, followed by the template and cutting instructions needed for each block, working clockwise around from the top left Butterfly block. Please refer to the photo and diagram below for template and strip placement. In the cutting instructions, I've included my own fabric choices in italics, to (hopefully!) make it easier for you to see to which template + strip I'm referring.
Butterfly block:
- Marti Michell templates: one B10 centre square (butterfly) + four B13 triangles (teal/navy stars) + four B11 triangles (orange spools).
- cut strips: two 1.75" x 6" strips + two 1.75" x 8.5" strips (Cotton + Steel lady face dots) + one 2.5" x 8.5" (multi-coloured flowers) + one 2.5" x 10.5" (grey floral lace).
Telephone block:
- Marti Michell templates: one A1 centre square (telephone) + four A4 triangles (teal beads) + four A2 templates (orange with white spots).
- cut strips: two 1.5" x 6.5" + two 1.5" x 8.5" (cats) + one 2.5" x 8.5" (grey background with white flowers) + one 2.5" x 10.5" (blue houses on white background).
Bear block:
- Marti Michell templates: one A3 centre square (bear) + four A6 triangles (poo dot) + four A4 triangles (orange/brown butterflies).
- cut strips: two 2.5" x 4.75" + two 2.5" x 8.5" (pugs) + one 2.5" x 8.5" (orange circles) + one 2.5" x 10.5" (black/white/red text print).
Typewriter block:
- Marti Michell templates: one B8 centre square (typewriter) + four B11 triangles (blue spools) + four B9 triangles (orange flowers).
- cut strips: one 2.5" x 8.5" (rain drops) + one 2.5" x 10.5" (black dot on white background).
Sashing:
- Marti Michell templates: one B12 cornerstone square.
- cut strips: four 2.5" x 10.5". I used a Laurie Wisbrun for Robert Kaufman chair print (because "There's a bear in there, and a chair as well ..."). As the print is directional, I made sure to cut two strips with the 10.5" length horizontal, and two with it vertical. If you are not cutting a directional print, you won't need to worry about that.
To construct your mini:
1. Make each block separately by sewing the inner round of triangles to the centre square, followed by the outer round of triangles. Press your seams in your preferred way as you go - I normally press open, but chose to press towards the triangles in each instance here.
2. Refer to the mini-diagram above to add your border strips around each square-in-square block. My fabric notes in italics above may also assist you with your chosen fabric placement.
3. Work out your preferred placement for your four blocks. Use a 2.5" x 10.5" sashing strip to join the top left and top right blocks, and another to join the bottom left and bottom right blocks - taking care if you are using directional prints. Press seams towards the sashing.
4. Join the remaining sashing strips to the Marti Michell B12 cornerstone square. Press seams towards the sashing strips.
5. Sew the horizontal sashing strip to your top row, taking care to match the vertical sashing seams with the cornerstone square seams. Add the bottom row. Press seams towards the sashing strip.
6. Give your mini top a good press, and you are done!
7. Layer your mini top, batting and backing together and quilt as desired. I chose to hand-quilt, as I needed a good on-the-go project for all the times I sit in the car / at activities waiting for my kids!
I hope you love making the mini as much as I did - it's a great way to showcase some favourite fussy cuts and prints. If you would like more Marti Michell template inspiration, please click through to the other bloggers on the hop.
12 August 2016 Angie @ GnomeAngel.com
19 August 2016 Tonya @ The Crafty Mummy
26 August 2016 Lucy @ Charm About You
2 September 2016 Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts
9 September 2016 Cat @ cat&vee (you are here now!)
16 September 2016 Nathalie @ Les Ouvrages de Nat
23 September 2016 Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts
30 September 2016 Peta @ She Quilts A Lot
7 October 2016 Lisa @ Sweet Little Pretties
14 October 2016 Rachel @ Wooden Spoon Quilts
21 October 2016 Raylee @ Sunflower Quilting
28 October 2016 Lisa @ In the Boon Docks
4 November 2016 Marti Michell!
But wait, there's more!
If you make and enter a mini quilt - following any of the tutorials above - you will be in the running to win a Marti Michell prize pack! To enter, make a mini (you must follow one of the tutorials) and submit a photo:
- to the link-up tool that each of the participating bloggers will post on their blogs on Friday, 18 November 2016;
- to the specific album in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Facebook Group; or
- on your Instagram with the hashtag #MartiMichellMiniQuiltmania and tag both Angie @gnomeangel and Marti @martimichell on your photo
Thanks very much to Angie and to Marti for inviting me to hop along with you all - it's been fun. Here's to Marti's templates making themselves at home in your sewing room. xoxo cat
Helloooo Cat! This is such a great cushion for fussy cutting - and of course the templates are so great for that, being clear. I feel silly not having thought of that before! Love your cushion and love that it's dedicated to Play School, a show that has saved my sanity on many an occasion. I love all the musical guests they've been getting in to sing the classic nursery songs in contemporary style. It's actually one of the few shows I will happily watch with Harry, it really makes a connection, even adults can't resist that feeling that they are talking to you, and only you. I also have a bunch of that Tuffed Tweets chair/sofa fabric - so nice to see it in your project xx
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