My Doll Quilts part 1

 I thought I'd update this blog and show you some of what I make. I am a miniaturist and make lots of small project type things. I make coin purses / hotpads/ bookmarks/ eye glass cases/ mini quilts and lots more. 

here are a few of my doll quilts I've made over the years. These are not for dolls use but are in fact a small mini size quilt made for swapping with other quilters. They can vary in size. Most of mine are within 14" x 16" or smaller. These are all my original designs. 

Try my shortcut methods--

   

                                                  How to make a Drunkard's path
                                                      with my shortcut method
   

How to make Half Square Triangles

with my shortcut methods

Any leftover fabric can be recycled into more blocks or you can make crazy quilt blocks with the left overs. there is always a use for anything left over. Share them with a friend if you don't want to use them yourself. Happy quilting my friend!!

Keychains I've Made in the Past

Here are a few of the keychains I've made in the past. They vary in size but for most I use a 1 1/4" template.

   

 

 

 

 

Hotpad Housewarming Gifts

My cousin Rita recently moved into her own apartment so I decided to make a couple of hotpads for her for housewarming gifts!

The Blue one is made with my kansas dugout shortcut blocks.
The green one is made with my method of making HST blocks. I used a border treatment I like to use in my bookmarks.

Now I'm starting a pieced mini quilt top for a billfold. I want to build up some stock so I have some stuff to offer for sale soon. If there is anything you'd like to see me include feel free to leave me a message. I'm open to suggestions!

   

Hope everyone is keeping warm! We are in the midwest in Iowa and it has been below zero during the day the last few days with a wind chill of 15 - 25 below

I'm looking forward to the January thaw so we can get some warmer temps going on!! Our house is warm and thankfully so far we haven't had any power outages.
I'm so looking forward to spring!! LOL

I've been  really lagging in doing much sewing. I need to find my mojo! There are a lot of thing quilty I'd like to do and get done.

About a month ago a neighbor asked if would like his late wife's quilt stuff. I said of course I would! They have been bringing me boxes and bins of quilt stuff every few days since then. I have sorted and shared a lot of it but I am still sending stuff out to share with friends. My living room will breathe a sigh of relief when I finally get it all gone LOL  I've spent a lot of time moving and sorting all of her stash. They  tell me there is lots more to come!!  THey have brought me at least 150 quilt books so far. I am down to around 35 books yet to get rid of.
  If you are interested you can check out my group on FB where I share pics and comments about what i have to share. It is free you only have to pay the shipping.

Rhonda's Fabric Swap and Shop for FREE group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/464205137300173/

If you have any fabric or quilt books or any needlecraft related items you want to trade or pay the shipping you are welcome to join the group and post your items. if you trade you don't pay the shipping.

Wishing you all Warm Thoughts and Laughter!!







   

Now that Christmas is over it's time to get back to quilting LOL or in my case designing. I have so many quilt designs I want to share. so you can see some of them on my Unique Techniques blog. This is the last one I posted recently.

So now on to other things. I always have a list of what I intend to work on but I'm really bad about procrastinating. I really need to get a checkbook cover made for a friend of mine. I also want to make some hotpads to send to a few friends and hopefully to get started selling again. Just have to find my mojo to get back into gear again!! If and when I get started I'll have some pics to show!

Unique Techniques by Rhonda

Thought I'd jump in and touch base with you all. I decided to start a new blog showcasing my quilt tutorials. These quilts are made using my shortcut blocks of course LOL

https://uniquetechniquesbyrhonda.blogspot.com/

My very first website in 2006 was called Unique Techniques by Rhonda so I decided to use that for this blog as a nod to my first attempt to share my work.

I have lots of quilts I've developed over time and I decided it was time to offer them to you so they can be seen and appreciated. As always my work is open for you to use any way you like. The only thing I ask is not to sell the patterns. You are welcome to sell anything you make and I hope you enjoy the journey.

This is the first quilt I posted on Unique Techniques. Check out the blog to see the directions.

            Triple Tango

      The next quilt I will be posting......Rocket Rendezvous

      So make sure you check it out!                                       Rhonda  

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Here is how I decided to use my candy cane dresden kaleidoscopes.
             I am making them into tree ornaments.
                   
  

You can find the directions for making a dresden kaleidoscope in my previous posts.  You will need a smaller template however. I will be happy to send you one if you send me an email @  patchesbyr@yahoo.com

after you make the dresden k then add a hanger (ribbon) and just back it like a quilt and then sew around the raw edge with the stitch of your choice. I like the herringbone stitch or a buttonhole stitch. the tighter your stitch the better it covers the edge. I didn't use any batting. tho you could if you like the look.

Then I spray it with sizing really well on both sides and iron it flat. let it dry and it will hang well.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wishing you all A Happy Thanksgiving!! I am thankful for all of my followers on my blog and website and other sites. Thanks to all of you for letting me share my stuff with you!!


                                My mom and I made these 2 yrs ago
                                        Bowling Pin Turkeys!!
                                      made with real bowling pins
                       

                   

Candy Cane Dresden Kaleidoscopes

I always think I am going to do better and post every day or at least every other day. Yeah right!  I am doing good to get in here every couple of months or so. LOL

I am a procrastinator of the worst kind! But I do love sharing my quilting with you all. so here I am again now that I have something to write about.

I absolutely love making Dresden Kaleidoscopes. And I love miniatures. so here are some Candy Cane mini dresden k's I've been working on. I was thinking I will post 6 of them at a time on Ebay and leave them as appliques to be used by the quilter. These are 4" in size.

Here is the fabric these came from --  I use a plastic blade and fussy cut the blades                           

                     

Last year I made some Christmas ornaments out of mini Dresden Ks so I am thinking I may turn some of these into ornaments this year and offer them for sale. These are 4" in size. One picture is just more up close than the other they are both the same size.

          

                                                   
                                 
        Here are some of the other dresden kaleidoscopes ornaments I made
         last year. They are all 4" in size
                         

       

   I am going to work on more and will post more pics when I get them done!

    Wishing you all Sunshine and Laughter!!!

      and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

What a Whirl BOM

Here is my newest BOM. I posted this on the Life's a Quilt group on Facebook.
You will see mention of the Life's A Quilt group in the PDF but ignore that. You can find the shortcut block directions here on my blog or on my website.

                                 It is now available on my website as well.

                                         
                                          What a Whirl Quilt Block

                  And this is the quilt you'd get if you sew 4 of these blocks together

                                      

I always add some variations of the quilt block and related quilts

and the third color block 

                    So you can find the other two quilts in the PDF I posted on my                                website  -   http://www.piecencutpatchwork.com/

           If you have any questions or need any help just let me know.
                      email me @     patchesbyr@yahoo.com