Tutti Frutti Nine Patch

I finished another Nine Patch quilt top yesterday and pinned it on the clothesline to take a photo. With this rainstorm, we’ve had a gray weekend, so the colors aren’t showing up very well.

All of the patches are from my working-box of 2-inch patchwork squares. I’ve been using scraps, leftovers, and old calico cottons to keep the box of scrappy squares going.

The sashing is a batik with pink and orange — found in my stash. The batik border was a sale-purchase from 2009 and I like how it ties the pale peach inner sashing and in-between squares and rectangles together.

This one is ready to go on the longarm — just in time for Spring!

Bountiful Blessings

In December I began a gift quilt using a festive Laurel Burch center. This was a purchased fabric, intended for a lap quilt I wanted to create for a young couple.

I fell in love with the colors and the wonderful design work. And of course, the printed messages which were mindful of holiday cheer and wonder:

• A Bounty of Bliss and Blessings
• Many Moments of Magic Making
• A Treasure Trove of Treats
• A Season of Songs and Savories

I pulled prints and hand dyed cottons from my stash. I also bought two companion prints for this quilt’s borders. I love the black squiggly worms and those wacky evergreens! Worms and evergreens…what a crazy combo for a quilt, but that’s the Laurel Burch style.

I used my longarm for this quilt and custom-stitched free-form feathers, in the ditch lines, a squared meandering geometric, specific designs, squiggly lines, and basic meandering.

The finished quilt, Bountiful Blessings, finished at 60″ square. I had it ready to wrap up for a Christmas gift just in time!

They loved the quilt and I loved making the quilt — a good holiday gift for us all.

Another Nine Patch

Off and on this past year, I’ve been making another scrappy quilt with 2-inch squares. This will be the third Nine Patch scrap quilt I’ve made with 2-inch squares in the past couple of years.

When making scrap quilts like this one, I gather fabric bits, pre-sorted scraps and strips, and leftover fabric chunks. I iron the fabrics and begin cutting until I have a pile of patchwork. With these Nine Patch blocks, I only needed one shape, a square, so cutting the pieces was mindless and I could cut through scraps at my leisure.

Making little Nine Patch blocks is easy and lots of scrappy fabrics can be put to use making functional bed quilts.

Since I had so many 2-inch squares and a seemingly endless supply of cotton scraps, I kept sewing. Instead of making more of the basic Nine Patch blocks, I stitched the 48 blocks into a different patchwork block resembling Puss In The Corner with a Nine Patch center. Still an easy block, but larger, using more scraps!

Now that I am assembling the blocks and the four-block unit, the quilt top will come together quickly. The light-colored print, used as the background fabric, is a new fabric I purchased this year for a future scrap quilt. When I was ready to assemble the blocks, I rummaged through my stash and I found an old Gutcheon cotton fabric. Since it was a peach print, I decided to use that fabric as the sashing between the blocks, bringing more of a peach tone into this scrap quilt. I’m hoping that I have enough of this 25+ year old Gutcheon print for all of the sashing — I only have a 1 yard cut.

Four blocks come together to make the four-block unit, creating another Nine Patch in the center.

Here is my design wall, sunlight streaming through, showing the blocks in various stages of stitching:

So many scrappy 2-inch squares remain!! I wonder what the border will be made with….

Same Blocks, Different Quilts

I made a large lap-size quilt for friends using the Churn Dash pattern. The patchwork blocks measured 12-inches when finished.

The quilt top was made with scraps, repro fabrics from stash, and some antique fabrics.

As I made the blocks, I knew that I would want one of these for my home, so I made doubles of every block.

The first quilt top, the one I planned to give away, was pieced with a 2-inch sashing and 2-inch posts in between the blocks. The border was 6-inches (unfinished).

This top was quilted on my longarm using a meandering feather panto. Here’s the finished quilt:

After I had completed the first quilt and sent it to my friends, I was ready to begin the second Churn Dash quilt top. Since I had already made 2 of each Churn Dash block when I made the blocks for the first quilt, I was well on my way to stitching that second quilt top.

I thought I’d make the next Churn Dash quilt a little larger so I went from a 3 x 4 block setting to a 4 x 5 block setting. Eight more Churn Dash blocks were needed for the second quilt top.

When those extra blocks were finished, I pinned them on my design wall and came up with the first setting arrangement:

I worked on the block arrangement until I found what was pleasing to my scrappy-eye.   I wanted the second Churn Dash quilt to be different than the first one I made, so I added a thinner sashing and setting posts — these are 1.5-inches.

All of the blocks were assembled with the sashing and setting posts, then the quilt top was ready for an outer border.

The second Churn Dash top was loaded on the longarm. I used a different feather-vine panto to quilt this top:

I love my Churn Dash quilt and use it all the time!

I don’t think the two Churn Dash quilts look that similar even though they both have a dozen of the same patchwork blocks. To my eyes, the first quilt reads golden and lighter and the second quilt reads browner and more subdued. What do you think?

 

Small Frame Weaving

As a child, I used to weave pot holders with a small metal frame and hoops of stretchy knit fabrics. The technique uses a looped loom weave.

Recently, I picked up a small wooden frame from Crazy As A Loom so that I could enjoy weaving them again.

I can’t wait to teach my little granddaughter how to make these!