Lovin' My Bordered Nine-Patch

Incredibly, my Bordered Nine-Patch is all together! I started this hand stitching project thinking that it would take me well into the fall/winter but I've been able to surprise myself with an early finish, and I just love it.

After a fairly uninspiring start I was questioning if I just hadn't figured out the secret to making this pattern sing but eventually, as more and more variety in colour and print came into play it came into its own. 

A huge shout out to Linda at KokaQuilts for her inspiration. Her blocks and finished quilt were just a tad larger than mine but so lovely.

I have to say that the idea of that three-inch-block border is brilliant - it takes the humble Nine-Patch and adds just that little bit of interest to take everything to the next level.

My August post about this flimsy showed a map of how I laid out the blocks in strips to sew them together. That was all done by hand but then I moved to the machine to sew all of the strips together, which saved me a lot of time.

This quilt was an attempt to make a bit of a dent in my 2.5" squares and strips, and it's done that. But fear not, there's plenty more where these came from so I anticipate making more of these in the future. And I suspect that each will take on it's own colour story given that the scraps on hand will vary each time it's made, which will be fun to see. This one is delightfully autumnal....M

Variations on a Theme

With all of the blocks for my last Bordered Nine-Patch together and in the process of being assembled into a flimsy, I still have tons of 2.5" squares to play with and am in need of a new hand piecing project, so more Nine-Patches it is!

This time I'm using 8 squares all in the same colour family and then a neutral - not necessarily plain white - for the centre of the block.

It's fun, but fairly quickly I was back to cutting down either some of the 2.5" strips in my box or strips from yardage to get the 8 squares of one colour that I need. And so the pile grows!

I only have 7 blocks together so it's early days in terms of layout, but I'm thinking of maybe putting the blocks on point with a narrow sashing and bright cornerstone(s) and then maybe adding a border or two. That would mean fewer blocks to make. Time will tell....M

Lots of Ooohs and Ahhhhs

When I visited with Sandy recently she gave me a lovely bundle of goodies to include in our Quilts for Survivors shipment this fall, the main one being this fantastic Postage Stamp quilt.

It's made from tiny 3" Nine Patches made with 1.5" squares. 

If you do the math, she's got 9 Nine-Patches per block (81 tiny squares) and there are 20 blocks - all hand pieced - so that makes for 1,620 squares!

Apparently she was channeling me and trying to use up as many of her tiny scraps as she could in this one. I'd say mission accomplished! It sounds like there were several times when there was a fair bit of blue smoke as she worked her way through this, but finish it she did, and it's just gorgeous.

And she didn't stop there. It's machine quilted and bound and, after they add a label, ready to be shipped to a survivor.

Yesterday I shared it with our circle of quilters at the church and they were completely gob smacked, not only that she put all of that work into this beauty, but that she was prepared to give it away. That butter yellow border was a huge hit. Several doubted that they could be quite this generous.

Thank you so much Sandy; someone will receive and enjoy a real treasure to help them along on their healing journey....M

My Nine-Patches Take a Getaway

Wanting some hand stitching to do during a short getaway, I got busy and threw the scrappy Nine-Patches that I've been working on lately for another QFS quilt up on the design wall. I wanted to lay everything out and then pin the rows/columns so that I could easily stitch in the car or as we sat and gabbed. 

Not sure just how many I had made, I discovered that I needed a few more. I also decided that I wanted it one row longer (you know my aversion to square quilts!) so I whipped up a few on the machine in order to meet my deadline. The blocks weren't in any particular order and I made very few tweaks to the final layout, which I really like. Those 3 1/2" border blocks make me happy. I snapped a photo for insurance so that I had a reference in case I got myself messed up.

I made a rough sketch of how everything would go together, numbered and pinned each row/column, and everything was tucked into a bin with thread and scissors. Time to hit the road!...M

Some Slow Summer Stitches

July is always a busy, busy month for us and this year has been no exception, so I'm not sure why I'm surprised that we're closing in on its end. After the blur of the last few weeks it was time to find a deck chair for some quiet hand piecing. Out came my scrappy Nine-Patch blocks. 

I had lots of fabrics paired up so I was raring to go. It should be noted though that a comfy chair on a warm day does make one prone to napping so, as much as I got a quick start, things tapered off pretty darned fast.

Eventually, my first block made it to the finish line.

And just to make myself feel productive 😉I made a second block. Not the busiest sewing day that I've ever had, but certainly a very relaxing one....M

Oh Canada!

Without a doubt our national anthem will be ringing out from coast to coast to coast today as we celebrate an extremely hot Canada Day; we're looking forward to enjoying fireworks over the Ottawa River this evening.

I always like to see if I can showcase a little red and white stitching in honour of our national celebrations and this year it's a selection of the scrappy nine-patch blocks that I am hand piecing.

They aren't pure red and white, but close enough to count.

I'm trying to force myself to create combinations that are a little outside of my wheelhouse.

This is my inspiration. It's from Linda at Koka Quilts and I was really taken with the border of larger blocks inserted amongst all of those scrappy nine-patches; mine would measure 3" finished. Subtle, yet effective. She has such a fun sensibility to her quilts!

I've got about two dozen nine-patches made right now and think I need about that many again to make a QFS flimsy approximately 48" x 64". I'm planning for 30 blocks in the centre (she has 25) so I will need to adjust my math to make things work. I might also switch up that border with a single wild blue/green print that I have but I'll play with that once things get to the wall.

Happy Canada Day everyone!...M

Simple Summer Stitching

I've been searching for an easy summer hand stitching project and finally decided to try and tame my supply of 2.5" squares and make scrappy Nine-Patch blocks.

Easy peasy, if you pay attention. Somehow I managed to fold this square back onto itself and stitch it down 😉.

Guess I was distracted by the view.

The squares seem to be multiplying in their storage container but surprisingly it's not always easy to find either four or five of the same print.

So I'm good with staying in the same colour family so that I don't end up cutting more squares. The idea is to use up as much of what's already cut. Works just fine....M

Spring Geese

Well, it's April 21 and you would expect to see lots of signs of spring and some nice warm weather to help us say goodbye to winter, but that seems to be a big ask from Mother Nature right now. Spring is, for the most part, still quite chilly and we actually saw flurries this morning, so we aren't out of the woods yet. Despite that, I've been working on decidedly spring-themed Flying Geese.

They will border my Snowballs & Nine Patch quilt, an idea that I got from Then Came June. Actually, the inspiration for this entire quilt has come from her Barret quilt pattern.

Originally, it was just the colour palette and blocks that appealed to me but as my sewing progressed and I started to think about border/no border, I took a second look at what she had done and realized that the picot border was a collection of Flying Geese blocks. Brilliant!

One of my favourite quilts - and the first that I completely pieced by hand - has a picot border and I really love it, the only difference being that it's constructed with HSTs. It always makes me smile. I did the math and realized that if I used the four-at-a-time method to make the geese they'd come together quite quickly. 

Making them scrappy really worked with the rest of the quilt layout.

I'm well on my way and looking forward to starting to sew the rows together....M

Snowballs Are Flying!

Mother Nature seems intent on giving us one or two good blasts of snow before letting spring through the door so, rather than fight her I've decided to join her and make a few Snowballs of my own!

I'm going to blame Jan for this one. Included in the scrap bundles that she donated to the church quilters recently were a few nice pinks and peaches, which got me to thinking about a lovely, soft Snowball and Nine-Patch quilt I'd seen recently.

And, I had a few small pieces in that colour range just dying to be used up, so I started cutting. It's a Quilts for Survivors project so it will be lap sized, which means that it should move along nicely.

The year before last, I made a pink and orange QFS quilt and loved the combination, so it wasn't a huge stretch to jump in feet first.

Just to make things interesting, I've included the large floral in the upper right. This was one of Jan's scraps and there wasn't very much of it, but it adds a lovely bit of interest. Doesn't take much.

There's also a wee bit of mauve added to the mix. It's coming together very nicely, despite the pinky tinge that my sewing room lighting is casting....M

Morning Star

I've developed a very bad habit of taking lots of photos of my friends quilts and leaving them to languish on my phone. I love scrolling through then periodically but they won't easily be shared that way! Case in point, this sweet star quilt that Anne finished up last year using remnants of the Snow Goose that she started in 2019. I'm calling it Morning Star.

Her Snow Goose palate was centred on rich teal and gold with softer blue accents.

Its leftovers have since found their way into this cozy little lap quilt. It's amazing, all she did was strip out the golds and it has such a different look.

Using the Nine-Patch blocks that anchored the corners on Snow Goose, she created these tiny star blocks. It was a peaceful hand stitching project.

The snowy blue and white backing and tumbling snowflake panto keep everything quite soft and dreamy. 

This is just one of many quilty treasures stored on my phone. I'll make a point of catching you up on some of the others over the next little while....M

Feels Like Spring

Today is one of those drizzly, cool, grey autumn days that makes you want to sit in, wrapped up in a cozy quilt sipping a good cup of cocoa, so sharing a quilt that's filled with pretty spring irises seems like a good way to counter the season's gloominess. 

This is the second of Betty's Quilts for Survivors projects and I just love it. I'd seen a block or two as it was coming together but I wasn't quite prepared for the impact of seeing them all in one place. Gorgeous!

Similar to her fall-coloured quilt, this is a very simple modified Nine-Patch. Those beautiful irises  are common throughout but it's the variety of mauves and purples surrounding the centre squares that takes it to a whole other level. 

You can see how she transitioned her thinking to have all four cornerstones in one fabric and the sashing pieces in a second colour, bringing more structure/order to the design, despite it's scrappiness.

It's a terrific example of where more is better - there's so much variety and movement, lots of places for your eye to roam - and all within the confines of a very basic block.

She stayed with a garden theme for the backing as well. That green floral is a beautiful complement to all of the purples and yellows. And the periwinkle binding will finish it off so nicely. I'm already dreaming of spring!.....M