A Long-Awaited Reveal

The year has been filled with far more things than quilting, so 2024 is definitely seeing a markedly reduced number of quilt finishes. We are celebrating today the near-finish of Tiny Nine Patches! A whopper of a quilt, she needs only to have her binding attached and a label secured, then she will truly be finished. 

Many previous posts have chronicled the long journey this quilt has made from start to finish. Here's my Reader's Digest condensed version.

She was actually started before I knew what she was going to be. I was making 9-patch blocks out of a huge tub of 1.5-inch squares and strips - all scraps. The amount of scraps in this small size had gotten completely out of hand, so I decided that it would be easiest to just make 9-patches and then figure out what to do with them later.

During the process of completing the 'niners' I found a fun sew-along or a challenge hosted on Instagram by Taryn @reproquiltlover. It looked like a very doable effort, so I joined in. This post describes my initial sewing as well as discovering Taryn.

By February, I was well into the 300s for completed 9-patches. I'd also purchased my background fabric. I loved it in the store, I loved it laid out with my blocks, and I still love it in my quilted finish. It has the look of a faded old quilt and it so nicely sets off all the little 9-patch gems.

I didn't begin sewing the blocks together until we came home, and when I did, I couldn't believe how quickly the entire top went together. I even changed my mind midway into creating a straight-set quilt, opting instead an on-point quilt. Read about that in this post.

Making this has taken me on so many reminiscences! I come across a bit of fabric here and there and there and am reminded of the quilts I made with them. Most have a story, and don't get me started if you are here and we begin pointing out different blocks. I have fabrics from my old projects plus bits from my grandma, and also from a handful of friends. Some represent quilts I have gifted, while others are quilt tops hanging in my closet waiting to be quilted. 

The quilt measures 100x80 inches. In previous posts, I talked about making it a square quilt, but I cut one side down a bit so that I could get it on my long arm machine! 100 inches is just way too big! I calculate that there are over 5400 pieces of fabric used in this 22x20-block quilt. I also have 1.5-inch pieces in the 4-patch border. 

I've linked up with Cynthia and her weekly Oh, Scrap! link party. Go have a look at other scrappy endeavors!

Happily, my small scrap bin is nearly empty!

Yay for a finish!

Hope you have a great week! Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

9-Patches On Point

It turns out that changing mid-quilt from making a straight-set quilt to an on-point quilt wasn't as troublesome as I thought it might be. It's been tons of fun seeing this transformation.

Here are some pictures of what I first made - a straight set section 10 blocks wide and 24 blocks long. It's hard taking a decent picture of something so long and narrow, but you can get the gist of it, right?

At this point, I decided I'd rather have an on-point set, so I wondered if it would be terribly complicated to switch things up this far into the construction process. The answer is no. It was just a matter of making the angled parts which I would attach to each narrow end. Below is one end. The other looks just the same, only angled the other direction.

Attaching these triangle units to the straight set was easy and before long, I had a big hunk of this quilt completed. Seeing this laid out on the bed is making me very eager to get back to the machine and finish it off.

Look at how big this is! After adding each small angled unit for the ends, I topped out that larger, upper part to form a corner of the quilt top.

The very rough drawing on the photo above outlines the original section I made before making my design choice. You can see, I hope, the 3 sections that have been added. One small triangle section to the top left (not shown in the photo), another small section to the bottom right, and a larger triangle section to the top right.

I turned the quilt the opposite direction to see how it fit. The same. So that means I have a square quilt in progress here. I will put the corner triangles on this last long row, then  begin closing down to the final corner of the quilt. (I'm sure this is not very well explained; my technical writing skills need to be honed no doubt.)

The bed shown here is a queen size, and the photo above shows plenty of overhang. Ultimately, this quilt will be intended for a king-size bed, so I think I am doing okay as far as size is concerned. If my calculations are correct, the quilt will be 22x22 blocks on the diagonal and measure 93" square. I'll get this part made and decide at that time on whether or not borders will be needed.

Changing this quilt so dramatically has been a lot of fun. Initially I took it as a challenge, but as I did that first angled unit, I knew that it was easily doable. I hope to have a finish on this very soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Let's Start With One and a Half

Inches. I'm starting my dive into stash sewing with my smallest unit - the 1.5" square. I have a small plastic basket full-to-overflowing with them and a fun idea with which to work.

Mostly, this little basket contains the actual 1.5" squares, but also buried in the mess are 1.5" strips. Sometimes, I'd be too lazy to cut down all the little bits, so I just put the strips in and decided that I could cut them further as desired. 

It's been so long since I've seen the bottom of this basket, that I am sure I will be surprised by what I find buried in the depths. Working my way down will most certainly spark memories of projects long past.

A few posts back, I shared that Becky had stitched along with Taryn at @reproquiltlover on InstaGram. Interestingly, Taryn has undertaken a new project. She will host a year-long endeavor of making tiny 9-patches with her scraps. 

Now, even though I swore off participating in any more sew-alongs, I do think this might be okay to "follow." Since I have planned to stitch these basic units anyway, and I have intended to do so with all these scraps I've prepared, then it seems only logical to "follow." 

Can you see my reasoning here?

I see that Taryn has a sign up for those who wish to follow along; the last day to sign up is Monday. There are basically no rules or deadlines, which gives stitchers leeway, and I like that.

By using 1.5" squares, the resulting 9-patch measures 3.5" (unfinished) and when sewn into a quilt will be 3" (finished). Taryn has plans for even smaller sizes, and it will be fun to sew what those teeny blocks will become. My smallest unit (the 1.5" square) will be my focus, and I won't attempt anything smaller, however tempting that might be.

I've already made two 9-patches from fabrics that were on the top of my basket. One is scrappier than the other, and when I have made this entire basket of scraps into 9-patches, the blocks will all be one very happy and cohesive blend. 

Direction. I have a direction now with my scrappy sewing. I am totally going to enjoy this. And the bonus will be that the scraps I've painstakingly saved over the years will finally be become something tangible and useful.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Binding a Quilt

The nice thing about quilting is that one can change her focus depending on her mood or her needs. If I'm in the mood for mindless piecing, I can do that; if I'm in the mood for long-arming, I can do that. Or, in my case this past week, I needed a hand-stitching project to take to our Frankfort Girls gathering on Friday morning. 

Yes, I know I have several hand-stitching projects already in the works, but I also wanted to take a show and tell - a finish, in other words. 

This little baby quilt met both needs. 

I bought the fabrics in May, stitched the quilt in August, and quilted it on Thursday. I took it with me on Friday morning to stitch down the binding. 

I absolutely fell in love with these two prints when I saw them at Mae-Lynne Makers while at our quilt retreat in May. Having a granddaughter on the way (at that time), I couldn't resist. It made up so fast, as you can imagine. Nothing is more satisfyingly fast than a stack of 9-patch blocks. 

I placed them on-point and used the dark pink to fill in as setting triangles to form a border. Easy-peasy!

I had enough of the lighter pink to use as the backing, and in no time the quilting was done, and I was stitching binding. It is now completed and waiting for the label to be affixed.

 

Now that Cate is here - 1 month old already! - she needs this quilt, right? Well, it will soon be on its way to the nursery.

I'm joining the talented stitchers at Kathy's Quilts and today's Slow Sunday Stitching party. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Reveal: Autumn Green

About a week ago, I thought I was finished with this snowball/9-patch quilt. In this post, I mention that I had a finish when it was 7 rows by 9 rows.

At the end of that post, though, I mention that since there were extra blocks I could see myself going ahead with making enough more to end up with a quilt that would be 8 rows by 10 rows. And I did that last week when Sharon was here to sew with me.

Once I got to that point, I still had some yardage remaining. Why stop? I definitely have no need to accumulate more scraps, so I cut enough pieces to make blocks for another row wide and another row long - 9x11, this time. Below, take a look this reveal: Autumn Green.

 

Yes,  I am definitely finished, as there is not enough fabric to add more rows. What little bit of fabric  remains will be cut into 2.5-inch strips or squares and go into the appropriate scrap tubs.

At 9 rows x11 rows, it measures 54" x 66" - a fine size for quilt.

At this point, I have no plans for quilting it because I don't have a fabric selected for backing. That could be solved rather quickly, I presume, by shopping the stash. I just have not take that next step yet.

Now, it is a finished flimsy and I am gearing up for some long-arming action. I have one loaded. It will have a flannel backing - I've not done a flannel on this long arm, so wish me luck!

Happy Quilting, Friends!