How Small Can a “Real” Quilt Be?

I know I said I was done with the cross quilts. But I keep finding mostly finished and partly finished ones that I really do like. And so, one by one I am finishing those off. Last night I found a couple of little tops and made them into sandwiches and then hand quilted them. Wow, all that done in one night. Amazing, right? Well, one of them was 6 inches square, and one of them was 8 inches square… Both of them were actually made as sample quilt blocks. But for this exhibit, they do stand on their own. I have a variety of smaller cross quilts, and I think they will look nice displayed as a grouping.

Here’s the 8 inch quilt. I actually did this one as a project for The Quilt Show. Here are the directions for making it. If you are going to make it as a stand alone quilt, there is no reason to cut out the extra batting like I explain in the directions.

And here’s the 6 inch quilt. I decided to finish this one with a fringed edging. I had done this a long time ago with one of the first “art” quilts I did in a class, and I quite liked it. Then someone made a disparaging remark about it (is it a placemat?), so I never used it again. But I think it has possibilities.

Here’s how to do it. You have to cut the batting 1/4-1/2 inch SMALLER than the top and back. And then you sew two lines around the edge to stabilize it. Get some sharp scissors and cut tiny slices in the edge, close to but not through the lines of stitching.

 

And then use your thumbnail to scrape across it and fringe it. Its just a nice alternative to binding. I am pretty tired of making bindings.