It's a Mini Quilt Along - Fire and Rain

Hi all! My name is Brooke Johnsen and I blog at Pitter Putter Stitch.

My mom tried teaching me to sew when I was 10 and I took a sewing class in high school. After getting married, I had all these ideas for projects that I wanted to make, but not really knowing what I was doing, I'd go to my mom for help and she'd pretty much finish each project for me. (Thanks, Mom!) It wasn't until the fall of 2009 that I started thinking seriously about buying a new sewing machine and learning how to quilt. I had happened upon Allison's blog, Cluck Cluck Sew, and seeing her quilts totally made me want to learn how to make things like that. Before then, I could see a quilt and appreciate the time that it must have taken to make, but the colors and motifs didn't appeal to me. I love modern design and bright colors. My mom had given me her old White sewing machine, which worked great, but it wasn't really made for quilting. So, I bought a cheap Singer machine and set out to learn all I could about quilting. Early in 2010, I joined the Modern Quilt Guild and attended my first guild meeting with the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild in March of that year. The rest, as they say, is history.

Over the last three years, I've learned so much about quilting and about myself as a quilter. I now sew on a Babylock Symphony, which I love, and have found myself wanting to stretch and try new things. I have a huge bucket list of quilts to make and start more projects than I have time for with three little kids and a full-time job, but I love this hobby and I know I will be a quilter for life.

Alright, enough about me. I'm excited to show you the project I made from Konda's Simply Charming Minis book - an autumn Fire and Rain pillow. I don't have a dedicated sewing space, which means no place to hang mini quilts. So, I opted to turn this mini into a pillow to use on my couch this fall.

I LOVE this design! When Konda asked me which project I'd like to make, this one was my first choice and I crossed my fingers, hoping that no one else had picked it. I've made several projects out of half-square triangles in the past, but with Konda's instructions, even a beginner would have no problem sewing these puppies up.

I looked through my stash and pulled an assortment of green, orange, and yellow fabrics of varying values to make the zig zags on the front. For the envelope back, I used Alexander Henry's Farmdale Crosshatch in Green.

I straight-line quilted the pillow about 1/2" apart, following the zig zag lines.

I decided against putting a binding on this pillow and instead just sewed the front and backing pieces right sides together, turned right side out and stuffed with a 20" feather pillow form from Ikea (my favorite pillow form).

Now, hurry up and get started on your Fire and Rain mini quilt or pillow. This is such a great design and lends itself to all sorts of colors!