Farmgirl Vintage Winter Star Mini Quilt

Today I'm popping in to show you the mini quilt I made for my partner, Debbie, for the Bonnie and Camille Barn Quilt Swap (#bcbarnquiltswap on Instagram). Now, if you're a bit confused - yes I know a barn quilt and a mini aren't the same. Barn quilts are typically star blocks that are painted on wood. However, for this swap the theme was to create a mini anywhere from 12" to 20" in the barn quilt style blocks. 

Plus it is on my 2016 - Quarter 2 Finish-A-Long list and this was a great way to knock an item off my  list, even if I wasn't keeping it :)

I chose prints from Bonnie and Camille lines: Vintage Picnic and Hello Darling for the binding and the star block, and a neutral floral print from Miss Kate for the back. The block is a 12" Winter Star block from the Farmgirl Vintage book by Lori Holt. I simply added a wide white border each side (Kona solids in Snow), which finished the mini quilt at 16" x 16" square.

Also - how cute is that bench up there with the heart cutouts that I inherited from my grandparents? I have matching set of two small benches and one large bench with a back on it. Love them so much!

I tacked the binding down on one side with my machine, then folded it over to the next side and held with binding clips so I could finish it off by hand. I  LOVE the look of hand sewn binding. 

It took me less than 4 hours, start to finish, to get this mini quilt done. That includes starching and ironing fabrics and cutting pieces to quilting and all the way to hand stitching down the binding. I had to stop once for 45 minutes or so to get the kids and myself some lunch. The baby took a nap and the girls watched a movie so I had plenty of free time after that to finish it up :)

I chose to do wavy line quilting approx. 1/2 to 3/4" apart across the entire quilt. This particular stitch is preloaded onto my machine and it really comes in handy! I haven't tried my hand at FMQ at all so although I would have loved to do a pretty design on this mini, I just don't have the skills or tools necessary!

The tag on the back is printed from my computer onto fabric, and it was actually super easy!! I used the method Erin (mommy2lu) talked about on instagram a while back and had great results. I created a 5"x5" square on my computer, divded it in half with a line (like a HST) and typed in my info on one side. Once it was printed using Erin's method I cut it out, folded it into a triangle and gave it a quick press. I basted it into one corner of the mini on the backside, then put my binding down to finish it off and secure it.

Debbie - I hope you loved your mini as much as I loved making it! This was my first ever mini quilt swap and I am totally smitten! Swaps are so addictive and its a great way to make friends :) I love getting something handmade by someone else from another party of the world. Its so awesome!

Have you ever made a mini quilt or have you been in a mini quilt swap?? What was your experience?

Thanks so much for reading!