How to Sew a Miniature Quilt

Miniature quilts are intricate replicas of larger, full-sized quilts. They're made of tiny pieces of fabric joined together to form a quilt that's usually the size of a 9-inch square. If you love quilting and have the patience, these suggestions may help you sew a miniature quilt.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fabric
• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• Quilt batting
• Thread
• Hand sewing needle

1. Pick fabrics that have a tight weave. Cotton work well because it's easy to seam and finger press. Choose a quilt design, reduce the pattern to 1/12 the original size and cut out the pieces, allowing for a scant 1/4-inch seam allowance for joining.

2. Set up your sewing machine with a new, size 60 sharp needle. A larger sized needle has a tendency to chew up the tiny quilt pieces and wad them up under the throat plate. Use the straight-stitch throat plate, which has a small round hole for the needle to go through, rather than the standard zigzag throat plate. Most sewing machines come with both. If you don't have one, check with the manufacturer of your particular machine to see where you can purchase one.

3. Sew your quilt pieces together. Use a scrap of fabric as a lead, and then chain-sew as many quilt pieces as possible in a row, without cutting the sewing thread. Use another scrap of fabric to sew onto after you sew the last quilt piece. Clip the chained group of pieces off, leaving the scrap fabric under the presser foot to start the next string of pieces. Using the scrap pieces of fabric to lead on and end off, keeps your little quilt pieces from being sucked into the feed dogs.

4. Make a thin batting by pulling regular quilt batting apart. It usually separates easily and works better than flannel or some other solid piece of lightweight fabric.

5. Lay the backing on a flat surface, then the batting and finally the quilt top. Baste through all layers and then quilt them with the design you've chosen using very small stitches.

6. Use a single fold bias tape or make your own by cutting 1 to 1 1/2-inch strips on the bias and joining them at a 45-degree angle. Sew the binding to the quilt, right sides together, using a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Avoid bulk as much as possible when you're applying your binding.

7. Finish your miniature quilt by folding the binding to the back and mitering the corners. Turn under the raw edges and blind stitch the binding in place. It may help to baste the binding in place before blind stitching as straight sewing pins may be too cumbersome.