Book of the Month: Simply Charming Minis

We are excited to present our September Book of the Month! Konda of Moose on the Porch Quilts is here to share a bit about her new book, Simply Charming Minis. 

Mini quilts are all the rage, and this book is a great way to venture into the world of charm packs and minis. And remember, the book of the month is 20% OFF all month long! 

Hello Fat Quarter Shoppers! I am so excited to share my book with you as the Book of the Month! Simply Charming Minis is my newest book about precuts. My love affair with charm packs began six years ago. Ten books later, I am as in love as ever!

Not only are charm packs fun to hold and flip through, they make quilting fast and fun. As a mother to six kids, I am all about making fast, fun, great looking quilts! Charm packs give you a scrappy quilt without buying a ton of yardage. Pick up a charm pack, and you can just start sewing - no spending hours cutting before getting started. What's the latest thing to make with charm squares - MINIS!

The Dear Jane quilts made a reappearance and then Farmer's Wife's quilts. I wanted to make a quilt with all these fun mini blocks, but six kids get in the way. Mini quilts were just the answer! There are 32 quilts in this book from 16 patterns and I had a hard time stopping! These quilts, 13" square to 21" square, were done before I realized I had even started.

I had two concerns when I thought about making mini quilts. First, I had to give myself permission to make them. What was I going to do with 32 quilts that wouldn't keep me warm?!? I "allowed" myself to make them when I decided that, if nothing else, I would have doll quilts for lots of grandchildren that I will hopefully have one day. Now that they are made, I am starting to have fun with them. I am learning how to decorate with them. No more permission needed!

My second problem was my hands. I had always considered my hands to be too big and awkward to make tiny blocks. Hand embroidery attempts have always ended in grumbling. I assumed making mini blocks would be the same. I couldn't have been more wrong! In Simply Charming Minis, I use techniques appropriate for the size of block. I hope you will be as amazed as I am at how easy they really are to put together.

My favorite quilt while I was making it was Fire and Rain using Curious Nature by Parson Gray. If not for a deadline, this quilt would have ended up big enough for me to use as a couch quilt. My favorite quilt now is a toss-up. I like them for different reasons. I love the technique I used to make the "rosebuds" in Rosebud Bouquet. For the daring quilter, I love the visual impact of the 88 - 1 1/2" triangles in Death by Triangles. Finally, Simply Charming Flowers is my first and most popular pattern. Mini Flower Garden is great complement to that quilt.

This is perfect timing for my book to be on sale! Buy the Book of the Month and join me on my blog starting September 11 for a Mini Quilt Along! We will be making one quilt from the book every two weeks with a few weeks built in to quilt them! As with all my Quilt Alongs, every two weeks, a new quilter will be introducing the patterns and giving away lots of prizes! Come join the fun!