Bookshelf Mini Quilt (Plus a tip for hanging mini quilts!)

I made a mini quilt.

All the Instagram swaps that have been going on have got me thinking about minis. A part of me really wanted to join in; but I wasn't sure my skills were up to it.

I really want to join a swap, and I guess I'm waiting for the perfect one to test the waters, to see if it's something for me.

In any case, I figured I should definitely make a mini for myself before I ever dreamed of trying to make one for someone else.

And so I did. I've been wanting to make a Paris-themed one, specifically with macarons. I felt it was fitting, you know? But I've been having a hard time drafting the plan for it. And then I saw a bookshelf inspired quilt, and decided that was what I needed. After all, I did major in English.

Elizabeth Dackson has a tutorial on her blog for a bookshelf mini, and I whipped it up. I added some embroidery, and deciding on a phrase was tough, but I like the one I picked. And, I tried some free motion quilting. I couldn't believe how tired it made my arms and shoulders! And, I did a dreadful job. Toward the end, it wasn't terrible. But still bad. I know I need practice. But, practice is hard to justify on precious fabrics. ;-)

I wasn't sure how to hang it, so I did some googling. I've done the corner triangle trick, and it works alright...but, this quilt is so much smaller, I didn't think I really needed a dowel. But, I also didn't want to use pushpins. Then, I found a pin on pinterest. Tami Levin of Lemon Tree Tales had used embroidery floss to cover rings and then stitched them onto the back of the quilt and used them as hangers. Brilliant! I didn't think I needed to cover the rings, since they're on the back, but went off in search of rings. And then I saw D-rings, and realized they would be even better because I could secure it more accurately, and more securely, since it would be stitched down in both corners of the D-ring.

I used Command hooks, and it seems like it's going to be a great solution. :-)

I don't actually love it. It's not as modern as I hoped; it looks pretty traditional, which isn't what I was going for. Don't get me wrong--I like it a lot! I'm just not super proud of it. It looks lonely, I don't have anything else on my sewing room walls. But, it looks better than it did! :-)