I left my heart in Colorado is my pattern and tutorial for the Marti Michell Mini Quiltmania. There was an emotional journey taken in the making of this quilt but the beauty of the pattern is you can totally make it your own, perhaps inspired by a place or person that is special to you. 

The wonderful Angie of Gnome Angel has gathered an amazing group of bloggers to provide you with free mini quilt patterns over 13 weeks. We are all using the Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Template Sets A, B, N, D and S - the same sets that can be used for the Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt Sew-along. There will be a wonderful variety of patterns and inspiration to use the templates so that you can create your own mini quilt and link up, with the chance to win prizes! You can see all the details at the end of this post.

My mini quilt is like a snapshot, framing the mountains and wildflower. It is a simple design with squares and triangles enhanced with appliqué and hand quilting. I knew I wanted to create a pretty picture, what I didn't realise until I started sewing was how much of me is really in this quilt, It became so clear after Kim of My Go-Go Life left a comment on my instagram about how she purposely adds "ME into what I am creating".


Boulder, Colorado was like a second home to me growing up. We went to live there for a short while when my Dad worked at CU and spent summers there nearly every year after, until I was 18. I met a lot of amazing people, had great fun and made a couple of life long friends. Tragically one of those friends passed away recently and I have been grieving hard. In a way this quilt is a small tribute to him but also a celebration of incredible memories and an immense love for Colorado. One day I hope to go back and take my family with me!

I chose to add red quilting to the flower as I remember the beauty of the prairie-fire flowers and if you look at the finished mini quilt you might see how I made parts of it spell CO (it's suspect but I know it's there!)


I left my heart in Colorado

Finished size: 20 x 20"



The fabrics I used were from Simply Solids and they are kindly offering a FQ bundle as one of the Marti Michell Mini Quiltmania prizes!




✦ Tutorial

You will need:

⦁ Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Templates Set B
⦁ Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Templates Set N
⦁ Seven different fabrics - I cut from fat quarters but you could use any scraps or strips that are 4.5" wide
⦁ Backing fabric - 23" x 23"
⦁ Wadding - 23" x 23"
⦁ Binding - 2.5" x 90"
⦁ a pencil
⦁ a fabric glue pen or pins
⦁ General sewing supplies

I am also providing a colouring sheet, to download it click here.

Cutting:

please refer to this diagram when cutting your fabrics, you need 5 fabrics for this part of the quilt top which are A-E. 



From fabric A
4 x Marti Michell Template B9

From fabric B
12 x Marti Michell Template B8
4 x Marti Michell Template B9

From fabric C
4 x Marti Michell Template B8
1 x Marti Michell Template B9

From fabric D
2 x Marti Michell Template B8
2 x Marti Michell Template B9

From fabric E
3 x Marti Michell Template B9

The appliqué flower is made up of two fabrics, a focal print and a 'background' print. Cut 6 x Marti Michell Template N78 from each fabric so you have a total of 12 'petals'.

Piecing:

Refer to the diagram above or your colouring page and sew together all the pairs of triangles to make squares.

Sew the squares in to rows:


Sew the rows together.

Take your six focal petals and for each one use the Marti Michell Template N78 to mark 5 dots on the wrong side of the fabric. Draw lines to join the dots (I used the side of the template to do this): 




On all 12 petals (focal and background) draw 4 dots on the right side of the fabric and draw lines to join them (this helps when you come to the appliqué):


Sew the petals together, you can do this by hand or machine. I find it works best to sew three petals together, repeat and then sew these two 'halves' together.

Appliqué:

Arrange the six background petals in a flower shape, baste lightly using a swipe of fabric glue in the centres. Place your flower on top and baste in place, again just a couple of dabs of glue in the centre along the seams to hold it in position (alternatively, arrange the petals and flower and then pin in place).


Stitch down the flower and petals using needle turn appliqué. I sewed the petals first followed by the flower. I used Aurifil 80wt thread, which is fine and disappears beautifully. It helps to have the flower in place over the petals so you can see how much of the petal needs to be sewn down. I like having the layers of fabric on the quilt top because it makes the flower more prominent. 

You can absolutely chose to make a different shape of flower, or not make a flower at all but applique something else. You can machine applique, do some embroidery, add some beads or tassels, add lots of flowers! Really make that space in the centre of the quilt your own. Add some YOU into it!


You are ready to layer, quilt as desired and finally bind the mini.


I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, if you use my pattern I would love to see your version! Please share a link to your picture in the comments below, tag me @charmaboutyou on instagram or on facebook.


✦ Make your own Marti Michell Mini Quilt and win!

Create your fabulous mini quilt using any of the bloggers patterns and Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Template Sets A, B, N, D and S.

On Friday 18 November all the bloggers will post a linky on our blogs. You can submit your photo via this linky. Alternatively you can submit your photo to the specific album in the Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt Facebook Group or you can post it on Instagram with the hashtag #MartiMichellMiniQuiltmania and tag (@gnomeangel) and Marti Michell (@MartiMichell) in the photo. 

Entries will be open from Friday 18 November 2016 @ 7am AEST (Sydney Time) and close Friday 25 November 2016 @ Midnight AEST. It’s open internationally and winners will be announced on Wednesday 30 November at 7:30am AEST. 

Click here to read the full Gnome Angel post, to get more details and ask any questions.

✦ Check out all the mini quilt patterns on each stop of the Blog Hop:

12/08/2016 Angie @ GnomeAngel.com
19/08/2016 Tonya @ The Crafty Mummy
26/08/2016 Lucy @ Charm About You
02/09/2016 Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts
09/09/2016 Cat @ Cat + Vee
16/09/2016 Nathalie @ Les Ouvrages de Nat
23/09/2016 Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts
30/09/2016 Peta @ She Quilts A Lot
07/10/2016 Lisa @ Sweet Little Pretties
14/10/2016 Rachel @ Wooden Spoon Quilts
21/10/2016 Raylee @ Sunflower Quilting
28/10/2016 Lisa @ In The Boon Docks
04/11/2016 And the lady herself, Marti Michell


☑ This mini quilt can be ticked off my fal list