Nor'easter Schmor'easter mini quilt - free pattern

It may say that it's now Spring on the calendar and it may be gloriously sunny for the moment, but baby, it's cold outside!  And with a nor'easter headed for New England (although maybe not quite as far inland as central New Hampshire), the colorful flowers that I'm longing to see still seem a long way off.  Once again, quilting comes to the rescue...

Here's a fast and fun little mini quilt that's charming hanging from a door knob or any place you'd like to see a bit of color.

I'm calling it my "Nor'easter Schmor'easter mini quilt" and here's the pattern:

You'll need:

Pink batik:  4 -- 2¼" x 2¼" squares

Yellow batik:  2 -- 2½" x 2½" squares, further cut once diagonally to form 4 triangles

Green batik:  2 -- 1½" x 2" rectangles

     1 -- 1½" x 3½" rectangle

     2 -- 2½" x 2½" squares

     1 strip 2¼" x 40" for binding

Ivory batik:  6 -- 1½" x 1½" squares

     2 -- 1½" x 2½" rectangle

     5 -- 2½" x 2½" squares, further cut once diagonally to form 10 triangles

First we'll tackle the stem and leaf portion of the quilt:

1.  On the back of 4 of the ivory batik 1½" x 1½" squares use a pencil to lightly draw a line diagonally from one corner to the other.

2.  Layer the 4 ivory batik 1½" x 1½" squares atop the 2 green batik 2½" x 2½" squares with right sides together as follows and stitch on the drawn lines.

3.  Press seams open towards the ivory batik and trim seam allowances to ¼".

4.  Stitch 1 ivory batik 1½" x 2½" to each of the units created in step 1-3 above.  Press seams open towards the ivory batik.

5.  Stitch together the units created in step 4 above and the green batik 1½" x 3½" rectangle as follows.  Press seams open towards the green batik "stem".

Now onto the flower portion of the quilt:

1.  Paper piece 4 petal units as follows using the remaining pink, yellow, green, and ivory patches.  Here's the link for petal unit 1 (bottom left); and the link for petal unit 2 (bottom right); and finally the link for petal unit 3 (top -- you'll make two of these units).  It might help to color the sections with colored pencils before starting to stay organized.  And if you're new to paper piecing, here's a link to a basic paper piecing tutorial on Craftsy.

2.  Stitch the 4 petal units together as follows:

3.  Finally stitch the flower unit to the stem/leaf unit, quilt as desired and bind.  I machine quilted just outside the edge of the flower, stem, and leaves using ivory thread.  I also quilted a diamond about ½" inside the yellow flower center to help it lie flat.

And that's it!  Make one flower or a garden of them!  No need to wait for Mother Nature!

Happy Spring!