Mini Patchwork Pony and Free Bird Quilt Version 2

At first glance a new mini version of my patchwork pony and this finished Free Bird Quilt don’t seem to belong together but they are actually connected by The Thread House Club.

I’ve been making my Summer Breeze quilt which is our next Thread House Club BOM quilt in my chosen palette of Dashwood Pop Solids (left) and it’s just about finished. But I’m waiting till the membership launches next Friday before revealing it, with a blog post coming soon after.

I had a lovely pile of scraps left over from the quilt and decided to turn them into a mini version of my Patchwork Pony Pattern.

Regular readers will remember the sew along I hosted earlier this year (with lots of accompanying posts here, search Patchwork Pony for more). Of course the wonderful participants gave me lots of ideas for new pony versions, one of which was a mini version. I actually printed patterns for this in the spring but have not had a chance to try it till now!

I printed the pattern pieces at 75% (very easy to do with a home printer via the ‘custom size’ option in your print dialogue box) and I cut my gusset to 2″ x 48″. This was a bit too long so I trimmed it once sewn.

Those tiny squares were cut to 1 1/4″ each and I needed 230 for both sides (115 per side).

Please note these are sewn together with a scant quarter inch and just fit the pattern, if your seam allowance is even a little bigger then mine you will need more squares.  My husband saw my cutting these tiny squares out and sewing them together and told me I was insane!

Everything else was exactly the same as the full size pattern, I just reduced the measurements for mane and tail a bit. The pattern pieces for ear and eye will be reduced along with the main body pattern.

Here he is with one of the full sized ponies (this one a unicorn) for scale…

He is pretty adorable! And so lovely to cuddle. He has been especially comforting to me this week.

I’m looking forward to seeing him alongside his Summer Breeze ‘parent quilt’. But as one BOM starts another gets ready to finish.

The last of the monthly blocks drops in a few weeks time and as I recorded my final block video tutorial last week I realised nothing was stopping me from finishing my quilt.  I’ve been making most of the blocks along with the club members all year using Sally Kelly’s Eden fabric line and a mix of low-volume backgrounds.

I knew I wouldn’t manage another full quilt so made this as a single size which will go to the Social Bite Village Quilt Drive. It needed to be just a little longer so I used up scraps to make 4-at-a-time Flying geese for a top and bottom border.

I quilted it on my Handi Quilter Moxie using the square interlocking pattern. This is my current favourite FMQ pattern for a modern look with a relatively quick finish.

I’ve loved making this BOM quilt, such fun blocks and motifs and so many great techniques, even some improv trees!

As we start the next BOM we will finish selling memberships for this Free Bird BOM so if you’d like the chance to make this pattern and have continued access to the video tutorials you need to sign up by 11th August. Check out the details here.

Or want to find out more about the new Summer Breeze BOM? Click here.

I’ll leave you with a photo of a grumpy husband who is just a bit fed up with having to hold up quilts for me to photgraph!!