Tag: table topper

Kim Diehl, Simple Whatnots, Simple Whatnots Club 11

Twist and Turn Mini Quilt

Sew Happy by Sarah

Last year I discovered pattern and fabric designer Kim Diehl who specializes in traditional style, mini quilts and applique. When I tried out one of her patterns, I was hooked! I absolutely love working with tiny pieces! I learned that each year she releases a new line of fabric and a set of mini quilt patterns for her Simple Whatnots Club. The 8-month club is only available through quilt shops and the shops provide the patterns and the coordinating fabric kits. I signed right up when I found it is offered from a local shop near me.

My shop offers a monthly meeting for the members where we receive that month’s pattern and tips and tricks for how to make it. We also share our projects with each other. In the January meeting we received our first pattern: Twist and Turn. For this project I spent about half of the time cutting out all these 1.5″ wide pieces and pairing them up to create a scrappy, but coordinated look. The main blocks went together pretty straightforward being all squares and rectangles.

Once it got time to assemble the blocks together, I had to think through the steps a bit more. This on-point layout with a triangular border was new to me. I had not done anything like it before. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out correctly!

I experimented with some detailed quilting in the border and some additional outlines in the blocks.

I can’t wait for our next meeting to share my work with the group and get the next pattern!

Finished Size: 16.5" x 22"
Pattern: Twist and Turn from Simple Whatnots Collection 11 by Kim Diehl
Fabric: Right As Rain by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass
Kim Diehl, Simple Whatnots, Simple Whatnots II Book

Matchsticks Mini Quilt

Sew Happy by Sarah

Just as promised, here’s another mini quilt! I bought Kim Diehl’s Simple Whatnots II book and plan to make my way through most of the projects with a stack of her Gratitude & Grace fabric line. Quilt number one is unlike anything I’ve made before! Its scrappy look with vibrant colors, dynamic design, and tiny 1-inch wide strips (before sewing together!) were all new to me and I’m very pleased with the result.

First off: 1-inch strips and 1-inch squares! I tried to cut as accurately as I could with those teeny things! I’m wondering now if 1 inch is the smallest pieces I’ll encounter in this mini quilt journey or will they get smaller? Everything went together well, though! I took a little bit of extra time trying to make sure the same fabrics didn’t touch each other — you know, “controlled scrappy”. 🙂

For the quilting I used some brand new rulers I wanted to try out: Baptist Fans Expansion Pack from Michael Davison. They were surprisingly easy to use after I watched his YouTube videos. A great all-over quilting look for someone who doesn’t have a computerized longarm. Since this was such a small quilt I actually did the quilting using my regular sewing machine with free motion.

Baptist Fans Expansion Pack from Michael Davison
Guest appearance from Mindy!
Finished Size: 16.5" x 17"
Pattern: Matchsticks from Simple Whatnots II book by Kim Diehl
Fabric: Gratitude & Grace by Kim Diehl for Henry Glass
Kim Diehl, Simple Whatnots

Pint Size Mini Quilt

Sew Happy by Sarah

While visiting a quilt shop during an end-of-summer road trip to South Dakota, I spotted a sample of an adorable mini quilt on the wall. I think it was a combination of the colors and the tiny squares that drew me to it. I knew immediately I had to make it! They had kits all made up and ready to purchase, so Pint Size came home with me.

Pint Size at Quilt Connection, Etc. in Rapid City, South Dakota

I had previously spent time trying to perfect my quarter-inch seam allowance to become a more accurate quilter. I’ve improved so much in the last few months that I felt ready to tackle a mini. A miniature quilt is defined by the smaller blocks and the overall size of the quilt being less than 24 inches. The smaller pieces and higher number of pieces in a block are generally a little more difficult to make successfully so they can be daunting, but I was up for the challenge.

I really enjoyed making this one! Piecing all of the 1 and 1/2 inch squares together went well and it was fun to use a variety of fabrics for this scrappy look.

Now, as I pieced my Pint Size blocks, they were coming out to be the correct size, however, as I added the borders and sewed the rows of blocks together some became a little askew… I’m not sure what happened but I’ll just have to work on this technique more in another project! I think it adds a little character. 🙂

As I was making this, I wanted to know more about the pattern designer, Kim Diehl, so I did some research. It turns out Kim has an annual “Simple Whatnots” monthly pattern club dedicated to these small quilt patterns, which is where this pattern came from, and she designed the fabric in my kit as well. She has also written a couple of books with these Simple Whatnot patterns, so I ordered one and now my goal is to make a bunch of these minis! I also plan to join the next pattern club starting in January 2022 for a whole year of minis with her newest fabric line.

Prepare for more minis to come!

Finished Size: 19.5" x 19.5"
Pattern: Pint Size from Simple Whatnots Club Collection 3 by Kim Diehl
Front Porch Quilts

Hexi Mats

Sew Happy by Sarah

After getting a request for circular placements to fit on my mom’s circular glass dining table, I came across the Hexi Mat pattern and immediately thought it would be the perfect solution! Not only would a hexi mat fit the stipulation of not hanging off the circular edges of the table, but using a pattern that was already designed would allow me to finish the project faster. The quilt shop I purchased the pattern from was also selling fabric kits, which saved even more time!

I love the look of the crisscrossing borders around the main hexagon! It provides good visual interest and allows you to feature a few different fabrics. The border strips are created with strip sets, which believe it or not, was a technique I had never done until now. How easy and fast! I was able to finish this pair of mats in a few hours. The pattern also features a wrap around self-binding using the backing which is pretty slick.

I will definitely be making more of these for my own table (shown in the pictures)! These would be great as a table topper for a centerpiece as well. 

Finished Size: 16.5" x 14.5"
Pattern: Hexi Mat by Front Porch Quilt Shop
Fabric: Everlasting by Sandy Gervais