Kate Spain and the E-Z Quilting Mini Quilt Challenge

So what has resulted in Kate Spain's joy? Could it be the stack of 16" mini quilts created by our quilt guild and shared with her this past Saturday?

But wait!  How did we get to this point? Let's backtrack and explain. It all began with a visit from Michele Muska, who suggested it might be fun for our guild to do a challenge using the E-Z quilting mini templates. 

Moda donated some, and by some we mean a lot of Kate Spain's new line "Canyon", which if you are interested, is coming out in October. With mini quilt templates and fabric in hand we were off to our creative spaces.

Several months later, we gathered to admire the results. 

The big reveal resulted in many oooohs and aaaaahs. Of course, questions and compliments abounded.

New experiences and insights were shared as well. Terrie used a diamond tool and learned about the intricacies of y-seams. Garen realized that she didn't love matching triangles. Lori created a field of plus signs and would have kept going but the guidelines called for a finished size of 16X16. "On the "plus" side," she said,"it was small enough to test my hand quilting skills."

Sharon used a mini-fat template to make her first ever mini-quilt. She took a larger version of one of her quilts and shrunk it down to size.  Betsy was inspired by a photo of Nancy Zieman of Sewing with Nancy showing a more modern way to use the template without points.  Carole Ann enjoyed working her 60 degree diamond in this pattern.

Suzanne used a mini fat cat template and triangles to create her handbags. She admired basket quilts made by Gwen Marston and her pieces reminded Suzanne of those works. Pinterest triggered a memory, she ditched the old plan and started anew and is happy she did. Rebecca also used a mini fat cat to create musical chairs with enough seats for everyone. Sue saw and constructed big triangles with her mini triangle.

From left to right here, Sherri, Kathleen, and Maybeth showcase Kate Spain's fabric line using a mini fat cat, square, and triangle templates respectively.

Our last group of mini-quilts displays hexagons English Paper Pieced by Michelle who tried hand sewing and hand quilting for the first time. Gail created beautiful shapes using the 120 degree triangle. 

This is when the mini quilts were revealed to Kate Spain last Saturday.

Kate Spain loved them so much she wanted to keep them for herself. She settled for a hug. (See first picture in this blog) Now these minis are taking a trip to Quilt Market with Michele Muska and E-Z Quilting.  How exciting is that!

Thank you Michele Muska, E-Z Quilting, Kate Spain and Moda for a very fun challenge!