Yesterday I finished another quilt from the Little Gems book by Connie Kauffman, this one for my son Ryan who turned 14 at the beginning of June. I was busy trying to meet a couple of deadlines so he had to wait a few weeks for his gift. I think it was worth the wait! Although it measures only 12″ x 12″, carefully chosen colors and fabrics make it really striking. It will eventually hang in his bedroom but for now he wants it downstairs where he can see it all the time.
This is Connie’s version (and also the cover of the book). Ryan likes teals, blues, etc, so I found lots of perfect batiks in my stash. He loves it! I decided not to add buttons or beads and he is glad.
I had the perfect, super light batik to use instead of her white for the prairie points. I pieced it using Aurifil 50wt thread, and quilted in the ditch using Aurifil’s monofilament – it added light and shine to the quilt. Martingale’s Papers for Foundation Piecing was easy to use and rip when the top was done.
The quilt uses only one block, just like the one I made for Christopher from the same book (click here to see it). One block + great step-by-step instructions = a fast project. This equation always works for me…
The patterns in Little Gems are so beautiful… Two quilts down, 13 more gems to go!
