Tiny Nine-Patch Update

You better believe I am glad as can be that I spent those winter months turning my massive collection of 1.5-inch scraps into 9-patches! When I began, I had absolutely no idea how I would end up using them, but I trusted the process. I was confident that eventually some form of inspiration would come. Here is a link to one of my earliest posts - very near the beginning of it all - which alludes to the inspiration I found.

Just look at what that inspiration did for me! Yay! My completed quilt top looks amazing!

Within weeks after beginning the scrap management and the making of 9-patches, I discovered an Instagram account that was hosting a Tiny Nine Patch Challenge. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I immediately had a goal in mind for my scrappy 9-patch efforts, and the sewing became all the more focused.

The last time I posted about this quilt, I had not added borders. I've always been open to border possibilities, and willing to 'go with the flow' so to speak. Perhaps because I have basically run out of 1.5" squares, I am stopping here.  The inner border of 4-patches surrounded by an outer border of background fabric looks very much "complete" to me.

I love looking at the variety of fabrics contained within this quilt. Near and dear to my heart, the blouse fabric from my wedding rehearsal dinner and my job interview with CHS is in the block with the 4 purple floral corners and tan center, with light lavender background. It may be the last time I use that fabric in a quilt.

The quilt is chock-full of special and/or sentimental fabrics. The pink and diagonal plaid block sorta' centered in the photo above are fabrics from my mother's stash and my friend Kay's stash. The green block just under it and to the left is an example of how I did 'almost matches' as I neared the bottom of the tub. I was having to force combinations there at the end.

This blue block is another example of forcing fabrics to work together. It was easy to let go of rigid matching standards when I reminded myself that this was a scrap quilt and I was to make it work the way our great grannies would have.

Back in March, when I was down to the odds and ends of the 1.5-inch squares, I switched from 9-patches to 4-patches. Here's a pic of the little assembly line set-up I had in Florida.

Those 4-patches came in so handy for creating the inner border. I just can't believe how wonderfully this entire project has worked out! Trusting the process really does work out, at least for this quilt that has been the case. *smiles*

My next step is to load it onto the long arm and get it quilted. Up top there, I have it laid out across our new king-sized bed, and look at that glorious overhang. I wanted it to be big enough to use on this bed, a goal I have definitely achieved. 

Added later: I've linked this post to Oh Scrap! Since I make so many quilts using my scraps, I ought to get in the habit of doing this more often. Cynthia's blog is called Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework. Yes, I agree! *wink*

And those pics up top also give you a little preview of how our master bedroom is coming together. I need to adorn the walls, add some furniture, rearrange some things. This room is nearly complete; the rest of the upstairs, however, is still in quite a state of flux. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne