9-Patch Exchange Update

In early 2019, the sweet gals in my quilting group - Frankfort Girls - participated in a fun 9-patch exchange, making and exchanging 42 random, scrappy blocks each. A more complete explanation of our exchange can be found here. We held our exchange last March, and ever since then, we have been on our own with finishing our individual quilt tops.

Above is my version. I made more 9-patches, used a consistent print for setting blocks and made borders for a full-size quilt top. I did face a glitch when I ran out of background fabric, so I subbed on that bottom row, which you barely notice, unless you're looking for it.

Helen has finished and even quilted her exchange quilt!

Sharon has her top finished using various purple fabrics for setting blocks.

Jan's exchange quilt is set together with 'X' setting blocks, giving the quilt a totally different look.

On Friday when we met at Becky's, Terry showed us her finished quilt top using the exchange blocks. What a great variation! Surrounding the center panel with the 9-patches results in a beauty with major impact.

The hope when we began this exchange project was to enjoy the variety of fabrics in our blocks and use them in any way we wanted. Our individuality shines through with each finish. And we are not putting pressure on anyone to finish by a certain deadline, so when we get an inspired idea, we can take off and run with it.

Maybe you and your sewing buddies have had fun group projects like this? We have found that the fewer "rules" the better. We are currently working on a block exchange that will run this whole year. Stay tuned for an update on it - maybe by the end of the week.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

9-Patch Exchange Quilt

The finishing borders are now attached to my exchange quilt, and it looks fantastic. This was a fun project we members of the Frankfort Girls sewing group concluded exactly a month ago when we exchanged our blocks. See this post for some details.

So, I made 40 9-patch blocks to exchange and then kept going by making 40 blocks to keep. When we exchanged and I had a total of 80 blocks, I went to work straight away to finish my quilt. The slow part has been the past couple of weeks in deciding border fabrics. I had one selected, but even though I thought I had enough, it turned out that I didn't.

No biggie! This is a scrappy quilt, and the second choice was equally pretty; I certainly had not a moment's stressing over it.

I spread out this quilt top in the guest room which has a double bed. I think it is apparent that the quilt is quite big on this bed, so without going back upstairs to measure, let's just call it a queen size. Here are some additional views.

What next?? I have a couple of commissions - t-shirt quilts I've agreed to make. I must get started on those. Then a baby quilt. Always, something waiting in the wings, right?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Border Auditions

I am making decisions about border fabrics for the 9-patch exchange quilt I finished up at retreat. Well, the center part was finished up. I left the question of borders to be considered, and after a week of such consideration, I have decided that borders will be added.

Now, how to choose? It's a totally scrappy quilt, so what colors? Here are two choices that I boiled it down to.

Choice 1 ~ This Buttermilk Print from Thimbleberries has aged long enough in the stash, so it gets some serious consideration. However, there is just one yard, and I would have to "math it out" to see if there would be enough. Just in case it would not work, I pulled a second option.

Choice 2 ~ Another Thimbleberries, and I have plenty. I like the first choice better, so let the figuring commence. OUCH!! My brain hurts when I do that!

Choice 1 wins out. I can do a 2.5" inner border, and a 4.5" outer border. I will use leftover 9-patches in the 4 corners, and that gets me to just under the limit on available inches of fabric. Whew!

I would like to get these borders on later today. We shall see. I also have to do some Easter dinner prepping - we are going to my sister's and my contributions are green bean casserole and broccoli-cauliflower salad. Plus there's laundry and a hair appointment to work into the day, as well.

Hope you all are having a blessed Good Friday! Easter is coming!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Canter's Cave Quilt Retreat

Last week was a wonderful week of quilting and fellowship at Canter's Cave. Some gals stayed Monday through Friday, but I could only make it Tuesday through Thursday. Regardless of the length of the stay, the sewing was fruitful and the camaraderie was outstanding.

I will simply show the pictures I took, and give a bit of info of pattern and maker. I know I didn't take pictures of everything made. I think I am getting worse about recording details for blogging purposes! Oh well, what follows will give you a decent overview of our activity.

Sheryll finished off this quilt just as I was arriving on Tuesday. The black background makes the jewel tones of the chains really pop.

Terry worked on many mini quilts. (Say that 10 times real fast!) The one above features single chains across the quilt. She cranked out several more, but no pictures of those!

Jan came to camp with the appliqued center of this quilt finished, as well as a good portion of the pieced border blocks. The main push was finishing the top construction. This is an absolutely stunning quilt, and if she can get it quilted in time, the plan is to enter it in her guild's quilt show later this summer.

A special guest at camp this year was Anita, the camp director. She shared this barn quilt with us. The panels are all farm and country scenes, and the sashing fabrics are a great combination of Kansas Troubles fabrics.

Quilters I did not represent here were Helen, Becky and Susan. I do apologize, ladies, for ignoring you with my camera.

I worked on finishing my 9-patch quilt using the blocks that we exchanged a couple of weeks ago. I had half a quilt already done, and when I got the exchange blocks, I was able to move forward to the finish. I did find that I needed more background fabric, so if you look closely you will see a different background in that bottom row. Not an exact match, for sure, but with a scrappy quilt, I didn't figure it made too much difference. I hadn't thought I would add a border, but I am currently considering it.

After finishing her Nutcracker quilt, Jan went to work on her exchange quilt. While mine is set with a print setting block, Jan opted for an "X" block which gives the 9-patches an entirely different look. It will be fun to see how all the other girls finish their quilts.

After finishing my 9-patch quilt, I pulled out Blue Lagoon, a jelly roll quilt I planned on making last fall. I knew it would go together fast - totally doable at quilt camp. My jelly roll is a Minick and Simpson from several years ago - Lexington, maybe?

Most of the rows are sewn together in this picture. All the rows are made and I finished attaching all on Friday here at home. It is now waiting on borders. I will post pictures when those are attached.

Quilt camp is always tons of fun. Of course, this year will be memorable as I took ownership of my Featherweight (see previous post). Several of the regulars were unable to attend, or could only attend briefly. Maybe next April will be better for everyone.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

9-Patch Group Project - Part 2

On Friday, the Frankfort girls came here for our regularly scheduled stitching time. Exciting stuff! We had our 9-Patch Exchange!

This is a group that loves an "activity." Back several months we agreed to have a 9-patch exchange, and decided that the end of March was enough time to get 40 blocks made to share with the gang. I made mine several weeks ago, and actually wrote a bit about it here.

I loved the exchanging activity so much that I failed to take pictures of us while we were parading around my kitchen bar/counter picking up our blocks. It sure was fun, trust me!

Now, regular readers here will recall that I got so carried away with making my 40 blocks that I went on to make about 40 more, and even sewed them into a half-quilt. Now that I have these new exchange blocks, I am ready to add on to make a complete quilt top.

I am very eager to get back to this and git'er done!

Happy Quilting, Friends!