ISQ stands for Incredibly Shrinking Quilt. Thats what I am re-naming the Mini Rings quilt I finished this week. If you read last weeks post I was looking for something to sew together. I had the pattern for the mini rings quilt on my to-do stack. A few months ago, Wasatch quilting had included a digital quilting package for this quilt in with the monthly pack I subscribe to. I thought it was a nice way to finish up a double wedding ring style quilt. A long time ago I made a queen-sized DWR quilt with FPP a pattern from Quiltworx/Judy Niemeyer. I didn’t have a longarm, so I brought it to my LQS to have it finished there. The LA person was helpful, and when I told her about my ideas for the quilting, she said it would be $$$. Plus, she thought the custom quilting would make the less than perfect piecing show more. Okay then. I settled for an all over design of leaves and vines, which was nice enough. When I think of the hours I spent putting the top together, it makes me feel like I could have done better by it. Back to 2025, and I have a smaller quilt pattern with quilting designs specifically made for it. I have made Sew-kinda-wonderful patterns before, using the Quick Curve Ruler designed by them. As I began cutting the fabrics and sewing them together I realized that this was a small block. I then read through the whole pattern, specifically the finished size 33″ x 44″. The blocks are 6″ – 5 ½” finished, I had originally looked at the block size where it is listed at 11 ½”. In my head I was making a block twice the size of the one on the sewing table. There are many steps to making one of these blocks. Lots of sew, press, and trim, sew, press, and trim, at one point I was doing the same steps 96 times. I chain pieced as much as I could and powered through them. Yesterday was the webbing and final piecing of the top. I took these four photos to show how much the quilt shrunk up as it went together. The pattern calls for 20 – 10″ squares, 2 1/4 yards background and 2 – 1/3 yards for the setting triangles. All that trimming and cutting used up most of the yardage. I am also rethinking the quilting motifs and which I can use. There are small ones to fit inside the arcs which, in my mind, are a waste of thread. The larger ones to fit in the two diamond shapes might be the ones I use. I may just sew parallel lines in the arcs and outline the inside wedge.

I am edging closer to finishing the Log Cabin or the Fabulous house series. I have two more motif things in the left hand corner. I am so ready to be finished with this project. I am concerned about finishing the piece, specifically ironing it flat. Many of the dyed flosses are not color fast, so I am hesitant to soak it or even mist it. I am wondering if it would be possible to soak it in synthrapol, then iron it and keep the bleeding down to nil. I may just do a test stitch with extra fabric and threads.

The kit for the Forest Fungi came in the mail yesterday. I want to get that started, as well as finishing the last pumpkin table runner. I am still a little undecided as to which color thread I want to use. I thought the aqua would be good, but maybe the purple. I really want to go with orange, the customer is very nice about it, saying “what ever you think”.

Be Kind.