Inchies are basically mini-quilts with backing, batting and top. The edges are finished, usually in a machine satin stitch, and they are in fact only 1-inch by 1-inch square.
The makers usually embellish these little squares with embroidery, beads, buttons, ribbon, whatever comes to mind. They can also be made from paper and have become popular trading items among artists and stitchers from all backgrounds.
Working on a very small canvas and using up leftovers appeals to all artists who constantly struggle with time, materials, and money shortages. Inchie makers set up swaps and grow massive Inchie collections. At the blog site Small World of Inchies and Twinchies, you will see a diverse display of Inchies made of paper and embellished with many of the items available for scrapbooking and other visual arts such as watercolor and acrylic painting. Twinchies, by the way, are 2-inch by 2-inch squares.
Making Fabric Inchies
A quick rule of thumb to make the whole process much easier – fuse the top fabric and the bottom fabric to the middle batting or stiffener (such as Peltex 72F). This gives a firmer foundation to work with, reducing slippage and frayed edges. Choosing the right fabric also helps. You do not want to choose a loosely woven cloth. This would make finishing the edges much more difficult.
Cut the fabric to a size that will make the number of Inchies you need. If you wish to make nine then you use a three inch by three inch square of fabric. A helpful suggestion: add 1/2-inch to each side (3 ½ by 3 ½-inch square) to allow for any distortion caused by machine sewing, etc.
Draw an accurate grid atop your fabric sandwich. Remember that you are working on a very small canvas and even the width of the marker you use to make your grid affects the finished product. While the fabric is one whole piece, it is a good time to quilt it. This of course also holds the three layers in place. The last step, finish the edges usually with a machine satin stitch.
The Answer to Displaying Inchie Collections
When quilter Nadine Ruggles became acquainted with Inchies, she wondered how people displayed their Inchies. In shadow boxes perhaps or fastened to ribbon like so many chose to display pins or perhaps turned them into jewelry? After looking around she didn’t find a good answer. By this time she had amassed quite a few Inchies and did not see her collection getting any smaller, so she invented the Inchie Quilt.
At the time of her epiphany, she had been working on a full-sized quilt in the Burgoyne Surround design. When she combined the idea of Inchies with this quilt she came up with the innovation of affixing Inchies to her quilt by means of Velcro dots so that the Inchies could be rearranged for different effects. The ideas for more Inchie Quilts came to her faster than she could write them down. In 2009, Ruggles joined with AQS Publishing to produce her book titled, what else, Inchie Quilts.
Some Inchie Quilt Ideas
Inchie Quilts can be as simple as a whole cloth rectangle quilt with evenly spaced Velcro dots for adhering the Inchies. Another simple and obvious Inchie Quilt design would be a nine-patch or checkerboard pattern. But Ruggles doesn’t stop there. Her book inspires readers to broaden the way they think about Inchies and ways to display them, using various themes and styles, including chaining them together.
Most recently Ruggles joined with the Quilting Gallery to hold an Inchie Christmas Ornaments Swap. Ruggles has offered a free and concise tutorial for constructing Inchie Ornaments.
For more online information about Inchie quilts, Ruggles maintains a Daily Inchie site, and guest blogs on other sites, including Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles. Below are a few photos of her work.
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