QuiltCon 2026 is next week in Raleigh, North Carolina! If you have ever attended the show, you may have noticed (or participated in) one or more swaps, whether organized or informal.
Many people bring small items to swap with the other quilters at the show. In recent years, stickers have been the most common item to exchange, but buttons (the most popular item before stickers took over), badge ribbons, keychains, and friendship bracelets have also shown up. This annual tradition is a fun way to collect little pieces of art that you can infuse into your daily life once you return home, and it gives you an excuse to talk to new people and maybe make some new friends.
Quilters who have a piece in the show often have custom stickers made of their quilts, and this year I chose two of my three quilts to hand out as stickers. I was particularly excited to get die-cut stickers this year to depict my quilt with irregularly shaped edges. I’ll be giving these stickers out to anyone who wants one until they run out, so if you run into me, please ask!
Each year, the Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) hosts an official mini quilt swap. I participate occasionally, but this year I didn’t want to commit to a significant project. Instead, I am making a few micro-mini quilts on tiny canvases to share during the week. Watch my Instagram feed next week to see how you can win one of these fun mini quilts!
Each micro-mini quilt measures just three inches square.
The first micro-mini quilt is inspired by my quilt, Mocha Mousse Mountain, which is in the Small Quilts Category. The thin stripes are 1/8” wide, just like on its larger counterpart.
The original quilt is stitched in the ditch with monofilament, but since quilting isn’t the star of this piece, I decided to skip this step in the micro-mini version. To give it a bit of softness, I used Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 to adhere a scrap of batting to the canvas.
Each piece is cut 1/2” larger in each direction to account for the seam allowance when adding the fabric for the edge wrap. These tiny canvases show every minor imperfection, so I stitched the edge piece in a continuous strip around the edge, clipping the seam allowance of the strip at each corner to allow it to pivot. This technique just leaves one corner to worry about turning under the ends.
I cut narrow strips of Steam-A-Seam and attached them to the mini canvas frame.
As I turn back each edge, I peel the protective paper off the adhesive and stick the fabric to it. This is repositionable until you press it with steam, so you can keep making adjustments until you are happy with how the edges look.
To finish the back, I added a piece of fabric backed with Steam-A-Seam.
The second piece is based on Utah Overlook, my quilt in the Minimalism category.
While the first micro-mini had no quilting, this micro-mini is a wholecloth piece entirely reliant on the quilting to create the design. I used all 12-weight Aurifil in the top of the machine to create the diagonal plaid motif.
For the next piece, I upcycled a scrap quilt sandwich that I used to test quilting tension on the Utah Overlook quilt. I then experimented with adding diagonal quilting stitches spaced 1/16” apart.
For the final piece (at least for now), I took inspiration from the color series I did a few years ago and worked with a mostly green palette to create improvisational trapezoid-like shapes.
I’ll have these, and maybe a few more, with me at QuiltCon, and I’ll be giving them out during the four days of the show. Follow me on Instagram to find out how you can win one to take home during the show!
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