This is the final post in our mini quilt challenge series! The aim of this challenge was to encourage our members to push their boundaries as modern quilters. Participants were given a small bundle of fabrics – black, white and four shades of grey – and challenged to make a mini quilt.

We will be exhibiting these quilts, along with others made by our members, at Craft 4 Crafters Exeter, Thursday 4 – Saturday 6 April 2024. If you can, please come along and say hello!

Brain Jumble – Cari Dennis
This is my first attempt at improv piecing. I embrace randomness, I love the lack of precision required and also the possibilities of using small scraps. I pieced little sections at a time. I didn’t want the quilting to be too busy and confusing, so I added big stitch hand quilting in small areas only.

A Deep Vortex – Mary Emmens
I created this quilt using an improv technique.  Starting with thoughts of a black hole it was a journey of discovery not knowing where it would take me.  Here is a finished quilt that the viewer can interpret as they wish – an eye, geode or black hole.

Shoal Patrol – Denise Gould
I stitched strips together to make striped fabric, then cut into improv curves and triangles for the fish.  The sea is made from blocks of different greys to suggest depth.  Machine quilted with metallic thread in a wavy ‘seaweed’ pattern.

Order – Dana Kahana
The grey challenge made me think about order and disorder, following a design and improvisation. Adding a contrasting colour and breaking the design a bit but still keeping it balanced was an interesting experiment. The matchstick quilting was a challenge too, I like the effect it has on the texture of the mini quilt.