Tutorial – Foundation Piecing – Little House on the Prairie

I really love miniature quilts – they are like little works of art and it’s a great way to use up your scraps.  However, don’t be fooled into thinking that since they are so small they will take less time to make.  It seems they actually take more time to make since you are dealing with such small pieces and there are a lot of pieces in to sew together!

I saw this adorable little house in a book called Little Bits of Whimsy by Kathleen Brooks Rindal and decided to attempt my first miniature quilt.  The finished product is about 9″ square and has about 175 little bits of fabric.  Almost every single piece of fabric in this is unique – look closely to see if you can find where there are repeats (one is VERY obvious – at least to me).

Since the fabric pieces are so small for miniature quilts, it needs to be foundation pieced.  This is something I have always wanted to try, but have always been a bit leery of it – it seems so difficult.  After doing it, I can honesty say foundation piecing is easy to do and the results are wonderful.   You do need to concentrate while doing it, but once you get into a rhythm it all goes smoothy.

Here is a brief tutorial on the basics of foundation piecing.  You start by tracing (with a pencil) the pattern onto tracing paper or vellum.   This paper template will form the foundation of the block.  Each piece on the pattern is numbered, and these number tell the order in which the pieces are sewn onto the foundation (see picture – Step 1).

Once the pattern is traced, you rough cut a piece of fabric that is the shape of the first piece.  Include a generous 1/4″ inch seam allowance when rough cutting the piece.  Place the fabric right side up on the front of the pattern.  Next, rough cut fabric that will be used for the second piece in the pattern.  Place this piece right side down on the first piece (see picture – Step 2).

Pin these piece in place.  Flip over the paper foundation and you will be able to see the lines of the pattern (this is why the paper needs to be transparent).  Sew along the line on the pattern where the two pieces are overlapping (see picture – Step 3).

Once the seam is sewn, flip the foundation over to the right side.  Press the two fabric pieces open (see picture – Step 4).  If necessary, trim off any excess fabric – but be sure to maintain the extra for the 1/4″ seam allowance.

Continue sewing the pieces in this manner following the order of the pattern until completed (see picture – Step 5).

Once you have the pattern completed, trim off the excess fabric while still maintaining the 1/4″ seam allowance.  To do this, take your ruler and line up the 1/4″ line measurement with the pattern edge and trim with a rotary cutter.  This section is completed!

This little house pattern is structured so that you foundation piece the different parts (the house block, the inner border, the outer border) and then sew the whole thing together.

The last step is to quilt and bind it.  I did a little of stitch in the ditch quilting around the inner borders.  The project is so small you could probably get away with not quilting it at all.  However, the quilting around the borders makes it look more finished.  There were some places where the machine quilting is obvious, so I may rip it out and just quilt by hand (however, I have to find the time first!).

For another fun and quilty project, check out the Radiant Folded Star and Covered Box pattern!

Keep it thimble!