First off, I want to wish you a happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you have a wonderful day full of a whole lotta love and dark chocolate. My gift to you this Valentine’s Day is a simple woven mini tutorial called the Plus Three Mini Quilt. This month I have been sewing a lot. I went a little wild with mini quilts because I need to make one for the Modern Quilt Guild swap and I wanted to make one for a lady in my local chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild. She is having some medical issues and I wanted to do something special for her. Since I won a free box of the Quilters Candy Box, I got a free half quarter bundle packed with luscious metallic fabrics. (To win your own Quilters Candy Box, post photos of their new boxes on Instagram using #quilterscandybox)

The fabric I used for all of these projects are Riley Blake Designs. Most of them are from Yes Please created by My Mind’s Eye. But I did throw in a pink fish bone fabric (So cute!) that complements the rose gold metallic. It is not an exact match, but it is in the same color family so it works perfectly 

First off, I am using it in a test quilt that I am working on. That means I will be releasing a new pattern but that won’t be until September, so that means that I have to be patient and so do you. As I was prepping half square triangles, there were endless design possibilities so I just had to play more. That led me to making this star block that I hand stitched.

Then I used my Whole Lotta Love EPP pattern and shrunk it to 65%. I really love how the heart mini came out. I feel like my quilting skill are getting better little by little, which is such a good feeling. Then I decided to try fabric weaving. So I wanted to share this project with you so you can make one, too. It’s called the Plus Three Mini Quilt. It is super easy to make and once all of your fabric is prepared, it comes together really fast.

 

Materials used in project:

Pins
Double sided Pellon
Iron
Two black fat quarters – Cut eleven Black 1.75” strips
Three – 2.75” strips for binding
One white fat quarter – Cut five white 1.75″ strips
Quilter’s Cut’n Press board
Backing 13” x 5.5”
Painter’s tape

 

Making the weaving strips:

Iron 1.75″ strips in half. Fold both edges to the crease in the middle. This will create a .75” strip. Make a total of eleven black strips and five white strips. Cut four of the black strips in half. Cut five of the white strips in half.

Setting up the weave:

Pin seven strips vertically to the top of the Quilter’s Cut’n Press board (ironing side) with no space inbetween. Place the double sided pellon on the board under the strips. Make sure the side with the paper is facing the board and the fusible side is facing the strips.

 

Making the Plus Three Mini Quilt

• Fold up strips 1, 3, 5, and 7. Place a black strip on top of the strips that are left on the board. Fold down all of the strips.

• Fold up strips 2, 4, and 6. Place a black strip on top of the strips that are left on the board. Fold down all of the strips.

• Fold all of the strips up except for the middle (4) strip. Place a white strip on top of the middle strip. Fold down all of the strips.

• Fold up strips 1, 2, 6, and 7. Place a white strip on top of the three middle strips. Fold down all of the strips.

• Fold up all of the strips except for the middle (4) strip. Place a white strip on top of the middle strip. Fold down all of the strips.

• Repeat steps 1 through 5 twice.
• Fold up strips 1, 3, 5 and 7. Place a black strip on top of the strips that are left on the board. Fold down all of the strips.
• Fold up 2, 4, and 6. Place a black strip on top of the strips that are left on the board. Fold down all of the strips.
• Straighten out your vertical strips. Pull to tighten strips. Make sure your pellon is under the strips. Pin the bottom of the strips to the board. Bring the horizontal strips up, tightening up your weave. It should measure around 5.5”.
• Once you have all of strips touching each other and you are not able to see the ironing board, iron the strips on the mat, adhering them to the pellon.

• Put four pieces of painter’s tape to form a frame around the weave.

• Carefully turn the weave over.
• Remove the paper from the pellon.

• Take the backing fabric and place it on top of the weave, right side facing up.

• Take it to your sewing machine and stitch next to the edge of the weave.
• Cut off edges.
• Bind using the fold over method or as desired. Click here for a helpful binding tutorial.

Here is a time-lapse so you get a feel for the project.

The Plus Three Mini Quilt would make a great wall hanging or mug rug. I hope you enjoyed this fun and simple project. I still have three more fat quarters to use… What should I make next?

Happy Valentine’s Day!