Memoire A Paris 9-Patch

Yesterday afternoon I happily took my final stitches on the first quilt of the new year. To have a finish so fast this early in the year gives me quite a boost; I feel like this year is going to be awesome with (hopefully!) lots of finishes this satisfying.

The fabric for this simple 9-patch quilt is a collection called Memoire a Paris by Lecien. I had a FQ pack of 14 prints and combined them with some plain white from my stash. If you looked at the post from a few days ago, I explained that my inspiration came from an Instagram picture. If you click back, you can find the IG link to it and compare results.

My photography skills are quite poor compared to Helen Philipps' - hers are amazing! I know nothing about proper lighting and effective editing. For example, the picture above looks a bit washed out - we had a sunny day when the picture was taken - probably had something to do with it. These next couple of pictures are from other rooms in the house, and I have tried editing; it's the best I can do.

This picture above was taken in the family room which is a good bit more shaded as it is in the back (north) side of the house. No direct sunlight and a covered porch keep this room dark.

Draped over the front room sofa on the south-facing side of the house, the sunlight is more predominant. I think this picture is the best representation of the true colors of the prints.

Okay, enough with the photography analysis. The topic at hand is this super-fast and super-easy quilt. I did all phases of it with strip-piecing methods, and did not obsess about fabric placements too much at all. I pieced the blocks in two batches so that my centers would  have variety. I thought I had made way more blocks than I would need, but as I neared the finish of the quilt top, I actually had to make 3 or 4 more blocks to finish out the final row.

I pieced the top in two sections (shown above) and then attached the two halves. It prevented me from having an unwieldy mountain of quilt parts on my sewing table. I will do this on future quilts, as it was much less effort in managing an ever-growing quilt top.

One final seam attaching the two parts, and she's done! I didn't work terribly hard to make all my intersections perfect, but I was careful from cutting to stitching and most have matched up satisfactorily. All in all, I am quite pleased with my finish.

And I say finish, but technically, it might not be. To border or not to border? That is the question.

I had no yardage of this fabric with which to make a border, so today I ordered a 3-yard pink floral from an Etsy shop. It is one of the prints in my quilt, and while it might be too pink for my taste, I will probably use it anyway, just because I think in the end it will look great. If not, then this quilt will be a borderless quilt. And I would be okay with that, too.

So, January 2019 is off to a grand start! Wouldn't it be great if I can continue this pace? With classes beginning next week, that isn't very likely, you know?

Hope your January is off to a grand start, too! Next for me: get my Christmas put away, and then re-introduce myself to that longarm machine in the basement. Ahem. I know. I have ignored it long enough. I am ready to dive in. This week, hopefully!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!