itty bitty grannies - a mini quilt

I'd been doing very well at resisting the urge to join in on all the granny square hoopla, started by Jolene (Blue Elephant Stitches). Find her awesome tutorial here. I loved everything about this block but knew I shouldn't start a new project when I have so many going already. Then Katy (Monkey Do) offered up an alternative strip piecing tutorial and I caved.

I wanted to do something quick and easy, just to get granny-squaring out of my system, so I pulled out some scraps left over from my 1930s quilt and pieced some itty bitty 3.5 inch blocks. I decided four was enough for me and made a little mini quilt, just for fun. It begged to be hand-quilted, so I gave that a go. This mini finished at about 8 inches square.

Nothing about this thing is perfect, obviously. I was pretty careless with all of it, just playing and experimenting and whatnot. The quilting stitches are uneven, and perhaps overdone. I put the sashing together all weird-like. The center of each side sucks in towards the middle, probably since the blocks are on the bias and the sashing is not. Is that why? Let me know if you have any insight.

Oh, and then there's that one block I accidentally trimmed the seam allowance off of. After a bit of cursing I decided to add some pink and call it good. It works for me. I like it. A lot.

Here's a look at the backside.

So, all in all I think this little guy is cute as a button and worthy of lounging about on my desk at work. Maybe I'll even set a coffee mug on it from time to time :D

Linking up with Megan's {sew} Modern Monday, Jenna's Manic Monday, and Elizabeth's Little Quilt Monday and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday.