New Pattern: Gyre Mini Quilt
The fourth mini quilt pattern of my rune quilt series is out today and now available in my shop. Introducing Gyre, a modern, geometric mini quilt pattern perfect for beginner and intermediate quilters alike. This design includes a handful of half-square triangles, a bit of strip piecing, and some point matching. All great techniques to practice and perfect. You’ll be guided step-by-step with instructions and detailed diagrams for everything as well as some links to handy tutorials. With a finished size of about 15” by 24” you can either finish this weekend project as a pillow or wall hanging. Or you could combine multiple minis to create a baby, throw, or even larger-sized quilt.
Kona Cotton Solids
This is my first and original version of this mini quilt and I went with some of my favorite Kona cotton solids for the color palette. I used Doeskin as the background and Roasted Pecan, Peach, Spruce, and Lapis for the design. I also used the Roasted Pecan Kona cotton for the binding and backing. To finish this min quilt I added a couple of corner pockets on the back to create a wall hanging. (You can read my How to Finish a Wall Hanging tutorial if you’d like to do the same!) Once you have the pockets in the upper corners on the back of the quilts it’s so easy to either use a wooden dowel or some flat head thumbtacks to hang your project wherever you please.
Hand Quilted Mini Quilt
As I love to do with mini quilts, I hand quilted this version with coordinating pearl cotton threads in a big stitch style. The thicker size 8 thread and the longer stitch length make me so happy and create such a lovely, crinkly texture. My go-to brand for pearl cotton thread is DMC and the color I used for this project was 793 (blue) which matches the Kona Lapis fabric. I went with a simple diagonal line for this quilting motif to really emphasize the movement of the focal point shape. If you’ve never hand quilted before and you’re looking for a peaceful way to pass the time I highly recommend giving it a try. You can check out my free Hand Quilting course if you’re interested.
Design Inspiration
As I mentioned above, Gyre is the fourth in a series of mini quilts I’ve been creating inspired by nordic runes. This particular design is loosely based on a nordic rune that symbolizes trust. Though the gesture and general structure of the Gyre design are similar to the rune, the shapes I incorporated are much different. My goal with this series was to combine the simplicity of symbology with a retro, arcade-like aesthetic, and somehow make it modern. If you take a look at the other designs in the series you’ll notice some repeating shapes and layouts.
Quilt Rune Series
This rune-inspired series came into being as a form of self-exploration. As a mom of two (soon to be three), wife, daughter, sister, and friend I was feeling, at times, as if I was forgetting myself. Not that I forgot I existed but that I didn’t know what I liked and disliked anymore. So, in an attempt to investigate that I thought of going through a list of aspects of life that either leads to or are part of healing and put some real thought and energy into each. When I found this circle of healing runes, everything just clicked into place. Regardless of whether this image is actually historically accurate, I liked the list and the shapes and I thought it was a great springboard for simple quilt designs.
Thinking About Trust
Since this design, Gyre, is based on the rune meaning trust the idea is to think about trust in your life while making the mini quilt. Are there places in your life or specific relationships where you need to have more trust? In a sense, allowing yourself to trust more is an exercise in becoming more comfortable with discomfort. On the flip side, choosing to not trust something can be empowering as well. The Gyre mini quilt pattern comes with a short prompt on this subject so you can meditate on these ideas and put those energies into the making process.
