“Dare to be Pieced” on The Minis Blog Tour!

You all know I am fabric obsessed right? I think at this point, that is pretty obvious 😉 One of my favourite places to find new fabrics to fall in love with, is Instagram and that’s exactly how I fell in love with Pat Bravo‘s fabric lines with Art Gallery Fabrics. I first saw her fabrics at The Quilter’s Bolt and it was the Rapture Collection that got me hooked! The colours and styles are so me, so when she put a call out last month for participants for her Mini Quilt Blog Tour, I immediately sent in my interest! Yes you read that right, I’m slowly getting addicted to quilting thanks to Kate and Barb at the quilt shop!

To my excitement, I got selected alongside 30 other incredibly talented quilt artists from around the world to participate! How fun was this going to be!

I was sent a small stack from each of her new collections Dare and Essentials ll and guys, they are seriously GORGEOUS!! I knew I wanted to showcase them in a fun and different way because I am well known for mixing fabrics together in unusual ways and I seriously LOVE the way they look stacked together! Off to Pinterest I went for inspiration (which really just gave me more ideas for quilts) then I stumbled upon the  Swirly Twirly Dresden by Orchid Owl Quilts on Instagram and KNEW I found my design.

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How fun does that circle in the centre look? It’s almost as if the fabrics are spread out for me to stare at forever! While it looks like I cut each one of those tiny pieces, it’s actually paper pieced and seriously the greatest thing I have ever done! If you’ve never tried paper piecing, you need to, like asap! Also as someone who has worked with a variety of fabrics, Art Gallery Fabrics crease on your fold lines like no other! Perfect crisp, creases EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!

Each little piece from both collections are represented and i love how they work so beautifully together. That “Defying Buds Air” fabric in the centre? It’s by far my favourite of them all!

When it came to the border, I had my little man help me out! We loved the mixture of mint and taupe and he insisted we use the “Brave Bloomed Lit” on the outer border and I think he made the right choice! The final size of the mini quilt with the border comes to a 17in square.

I am so pleasantly pleased with the backside as well! I only had one section to unpick which is impressive because I don’t have a walking/quilting foot yet. Next tool purchase will be that to save the frustration of layers! Those top triangles are so I can place a dowel along the top to hang the quilt with out damage!

Want to see who else is quilting on the tour? Erin Cox of Why Not Sew & Anjeanette Klinder of Anjeanette K were the stops before me yesterday but you can see the full lineup on Pat Bravo’s Blog today!

Now I have a special gift for you! Yeah, that’s right, for you! I wanted to bring out the handbag designer in me to my quilting, so I have something special to show you!!

My new found love for paper piecing grew with this quilt and fabrics so I combined them with a couple pouches and came out with these two little goodies! Pieced entirely with the Dare and Essential ll Collections, these little’s turned out so sweet. The “Double Flying Geese” Pouch is 6.5in by 5.5in and that adorable little triangle pouch is only 4 inches tall!

As my special gift to you, I am giving away these little paper pieced loves to one lucky reader! All you have to do is check out the Dare Lookbook or Essentials ll Lookbook and tell me which of the fabrics are your favourites and leave a comment below! I will randomly choose a winner on May 6th so don’t wait!

I hope you love my little quilt! It’s going to be hanging on these dark walls of my studio to add a little pop of colour. I think too, I see more paper pieced pouches in my future. Who knows, maybe they’ll be in my shop someday soon 😉

Congrats to Vicki for being comment #8 and winning the pouches! Please check your email 😀

Disclaimer: Giveaway is open worldwide, not redeemable for cash and has no cash value. Fabrics for these creations were provided by Pat Bravo Design however all opionions and comments are entirely my own!