Blooming Nine Patch

I have another finish for one of my own quilts, finally. The Blooming Nine Patch that I started in Aug. 2014, is now finished. This was a self induced challenge, to try and do this design using only fabrics that I had in my stash. When I started it, I wasn’t really sure how it was going to turn out and what the blend of colours would look like. I must say that it surpassed my wildest hopes for it. I love it.
Here’s a close up of the fabrics and quilting in the middle section. I did a circular swirl in all of the outside section blocks. The fabrics there are so busy that nothing would have really shown up. But in the centre section, I did a fun wavy back and forth type thing, almost like if the kittens in the one fabric were chasing some of the wool that is wrapped around them. I did my usual faux-piped binding, using my usual diagonally printed stripe. There are some cute critters to be found in the fabric around the outside, to go along with the kittens. I am so very happy with the way this one turned out! I’m going to link up to Connie’s Links Tuesday to celebrate and share this finish.

Sew In day 1

Just a quick post to show what was accomplished today.
All of my triple four patches are sew together into the top. Tomorrow, I will finish off the borders.

The Blooming Nine Patch is now a finished top. And it also has a finished backing.  There's a close up here, of some of the really cute animal faces poking out behind the balls of yarn, and the blue berry bushes. I'll get better pictures out in the daylight, some other time. It was a fun day, with lots  accomplished. And I'm hoping to get lots done tomorrow, too.

Wednesday Progress Report.....

I've managed to get a whole lot more rows done on my Blooming Nine Patch. All that's left is that top right hand corner. I've run out of the nine patches needed for the outer row, so I have to make nine more before I can go any further. With every section that gets sewn together, I like this quilt more and more. When I first made the fabric selections, especially the black, I really wasn't sure how it was going to work out. At one point, I was thinking that I would either shelve it, or end up giving it away. But not now..... it is going to live right here, and might even jump to the head of the line for my projects that need quilting. I think an over all floral would be perfect for it.
I'm linking up to Canada's Needle and Thread Network, and then I think I'm going to call it a day.

Design Wall Monday, Nov. 17, 2014

This Disappearing Nine Patch is still taking up space on my wall. I have decided that I'm staying up here in the studio, except for supper, until 8 o'clock tonight. I'm going to see how many more rows I can get sewn together by then. It's been selfish and taken up this space for far too long now. Over half of the rows are sewn together, and they all get shorter and shorter from here on in, so I'm hopeful the next couple of evenings will at least see it all into rows, at which point they can be taken down, and something else put up.
So, with that goal in mind, I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday, putting something to watch on netflix, and sewing.

What I'm Working on......

The Blooming Nine Patch is next on my list to get finished into a top.The hardest part was figuring out exactly where I was in it. Ended up that I had to take down the squares that weren't sewn together yet, get the book out, and then put the squares all back up again.

I had started sewing together the top half of the quilt last night, before I re-arranged everything, and once I had the one row partly sewn together, I couldn't figure out how or where it was supposed to go. Reading the instructions is definitely a good idea! I still have some of the nine patches for the last combination of fabrics left to sew together, as well. It's a little late for doing that tonight, but maybe tomorrow? In the meantime tonight, I'll link up to the Canadian Needle and Thread Network, which has a weekly Work in Progress Wednesday. Then I think I'll work on my sweater.

Design Wall Monday, Oct. 27, 2014

I'm back at working on my projects now, after a short break. I've got this month's UFO up on the wall.  It's a leaders/enders project from several years ago, that has aged long enough. It's about halfway sewn together now, on it's way to becoming quite a lovely scrappy Irish Chain.
The other thing up there is my Blooming Nine Patch, which is slowly coming together. I only work on it while I'm upstairs in the long arm studio, since that's where my design wall is.  I find it easier to work on if I can take it off the wall one row at a time, and then put that row right back up again after sewing it, in order to make sure I didn't mess up the placement. After checking on the placements, I sew the rows to each other. Obviously, I'm working on it one half at a time. It's going faster, now that I'm getting down to the corner.




I'm going to link this up to Judy's Design Wall Monday. Then I think I'll sew a few more blocks in the Irish chain into rows, and maybe work on a wallet pattern I bought on the weekend.

What I'm Working On

 I've still got these two projects going, my Blooming Nine Patch and my camping quilt. I've made progress on both of them. There are more rows sewn together in this Blooming Nine Patch. The more of it I get sewn together, the better I like it.

And Camp Out now has all of its piano key borders sewn together. I just need to check on the sizing for them, and I can get them sewn on. I think they might be a bit too long. I might do some liberated style sew them on and cut to fit, if they are really way out. Camping quilts are allowed to be slightly wonky. That's a new rule..... I just made it up. My computer seems to be acting up a bit, and won't open the pages to the link ups, so I'll skip those for this week.

Project Progress.....

I've made quite a bit of progress on both of the projects I'm currently working on. I made four more of the underground railway blocks, to give me nine now. I think I'm aiming for sixteen, which will give me a square quilt measuring 65 inches, before borders, and will use up 80 of the nine patches. I'm thinking I could do something with the rest of the nine patches for the borders, maybe off set two rows of nine patches to form a checkerboard on the top and bottom and then a single row down the sides so that it's rectangular, rather than square, although I don't mind square quilts. I'll have to let this simmer for a little while yet. I'm working on this one down in the apartment, since it doesn't need a design wall.


I'm working on the Blooming Nine Patch in the upstairs studio, since it needs to stay up on the wall       This way I can take the pieces off the wall and sew them in the right order. If I were to bring it downstairs, there isn't anywhere to lay it out, and there would be a huge risk that I'd get the pieces out of order. When I first started adding in those black squares, the first reaction was that I didn't like it. But the more of them I put up, the more I began to really like the effect. It turned it from a little girl's pastel quilt, into a more mature look.
I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at The Needles and Thread Network, a link up for Canadian bloggers, and also at Freshly Pieced. Then it's time for supper, and some more underground railway blocks. I wonder if I can get the last seven done tonight?

What I'm working on......

I've been doing binding. Other than getting a hanging sleeve sewn on, Meteor Shower is done!! It's pouring down rain outside today, so I can't get a picture of the whole thing, but here's a tease.

The bottom corner showing the diagonal striped binding, with a narrow orange faux piping. Completely done by machine. I can't imagine the time it would have taken to do this one by hand, considering the quilt measures somewhere around 100 inches square.

I'm still working on the Blooming Nine Patch. I'm starting to sew the diagonal rows together, even though I don't have all the nine patches done. I can always add them to either end of the rows once I get that far. I'm running out of room on the wall, and sewing them together makes the rows shrink quite a bit, giving more room on the wall. I'm going to make more nine patches tonight, after linking up to The Needle and Thread Network.

Playing around with Nine Patches

Since I finished up Meteor Shower the other day, I decided to give myself the treat of playing with this simple quilt that I started back at the beginning of August. It is quite easy to put together, exactly what I need after all the intense piecing of the last few quilts I've done. It's a Blooming Nine Patch. I saw Teresa working on hers here, and just had to start one of my own. The two won't look anything at all alike, which is one of the many wonderful things about quilting. The next round is going to involve some blues and pinks and some cute kittens. This quilt has decided that it wants to belong to a little girl, I think. Depending on how big it gets, I might donate it to our Children's Aid outreach project that the guild supports. I'm going to link this post up to the Canadian Needle and Thread Network for their work in progress Wednesday. Then, I think I'll find something to eat, and then play with the next set of four patches.

The Big 6 0......

I don't normally pay attention to my birthday. I usually like to ignore them and pretend that I'm not getting any older. This one is kinda hard to ignore, though. Today, I turned 60. Scott started the day off with bringing me a coffee in bed, and, once my eyes were open enough to be able to see, he gave me a lovely fat quarter bundle of Stonehenge fabrics and a new book to read. That was a lovely start to the day.  The rest of the family chimed in with lots of happy birthdays, including a skyped message from 3 year old Avery singing happy birthday. Then, as a gift to myself, I gave myself permission to start a new project. And, I even took my own advice from a week or so ago, and made it an easy one.
I started a Blooming Nine patch. Teresa, over at A Quilt and a Prayer has been working on one, and I've been watching it grow, and thinking that I'd like to do one too. So, I started out today pulling all kinds of fabrics, using only stash, trying to come up with a combination that would work, The hard part was finding combinations that had enough fabric for the various levels. I think I finally came up with one.

This is what I have, so far. During the selection process, the quilt decided that it would be for a little girl. I'll take pictures of it as it grows. The colours are a little brighter than what shows here. It was starting to get dark when I took this picture, so it's a bit on the grey side.
I also treated myself to a change in sewing rooms for the day. It was warm and lovely, with just a gentle breeze outside, so I took a table and my sewing machine outside into the yard. Nothing better than a sewing room with a nice view, a nice breeze, and the sound of the birds singing and the leaves moving in the breeze. Absolute bliss!
And now, I think I'll start that new book.