Friday, October 15, 2010

Nine Patch Heaven

I've been eagerly awaiting the Nine Patches from JulieK's swap. That very generous woman organized a HUGE swap as a celebration for passing a nursing exam!  Mine came today (80 blocks!) and after oohing and aahing I sorted them into piles for two different quilts I want to make.
Look at all these gorgeous blues!  This is a color I rarely work with so I'm thrilled to get so many fabulous shades and prints to play with.   

25 Nine Patch blocks will go into this Carefree Romance quilt from the Spring/Summer 2010 Quilt Sampler magazine, designed by Veda Wilhite.  Hard to tell from this pic, but there is an alternate hourglass block that makes a frame around each of the nine patches.  I'm thinking caramels and browns would be great as the hourglass blocks.

All these yummy reds, browns and greens will go in this quilt I've sketched a colorway for.

I saw this pattern in a Thimbleberries book I own.  Lynette Jensen went subtle with her colorway in her Nine Patch Criss-Cross quilt, emphasizing the diagonals, but I thought, "What if I made the square in square with two different colors in each half?"  Out came the graph paper and pencil!  A star pattern was created when I rotated the square in squares in each row--can you see the 16 stars?  40 Nine Patches and 40 square in square blocks are needed for the 9 x 9 layout I sketched.  I'm thinking red and green, or maybe cheddar and green for the square in square blocks, with creamy centers. 

Then there are some lovely double pinks with brown and black.  I threw in the extra neutral blocks I got back and they look pretty good with these!  A nice table topper could be created with this pile of 12 blocks.  I'm so happy I joined this swap and have nothing but profuse thanks for all the other swappers for their wonderful blocks, and particularly thanks to Julie for taking on this enormous task!  (She'll know better next time!)

11 comments:

*karendianne. said...

Divinity! Oh my gosh this is pure divinity. I love how you're sharing your quilting plans, too. I so completely dig your quilter-self, Annie!

Anonymous said...

I received my blocks too but was thinking of something real easy for an "old" kind of look...we'll see. Like your ideas!

Vivian said...

The stars that you created easily pop out in your layout. Good plan!
I like experimenting with paper and colored pencils too. It's so much easier to start over with a new piece of paper, rather then un-sewing.

What fun to plan a quilt with all those 9-patch blocks that appeared at your door. Great swap!

~Niki~ said...

i've recently bookmarked your blog. love it. love quilting! and i'm a medical transcriptionist too! i work from home~own my own business.
anyways;. wanted to let you know i'm having a giveaway for a cool new sewing gadget if you wanna come by and see! hugs. niki

Shay said...

I love your ideas Annie. You have real gift for "creative envisaging"

I never experiment with colour pictures. Maybe I should start. I could negate a lot of finger crossing if I did !

quiltmom anna said...

Love the nine patch blocks Annie- very pretty- I really like the brown and pink combos too- You are going to have some fantastic quilts when the blocks are all put together.
Regards,
Anna

Quilter Kathy said...

You are the first person that I've read about receiving their blocks...how fun! And you are amazing to have already sorted them into projects!

julieQ said...

You have such great ideas, Annie! I can't wait to see what you do with your blocks.

Lee Prairie Designs said...

Hello Annie! I to participated in the 9 patch exchange that Julie organized! Bless her heart for all her work to bring big smiles to quilters that particiapated in this event from all over the world! This was a huge undertaking.

I am making a doll quilt first---it is in the 2nd stage of piecing it together.

Your ideas are looking great and I look forward to see what you do with "your" blocks!

I will visit you again. Hope you are having a lovely weekend.

Carolyn :)

libbyquilter said...

beautiful 9-patch blocks and your quilts sound like they're going to be awesome . . . your color mixes for those alternate blocks all sound yummy~!!~

:-)
libbyQ

Highland Monkey's said...

I have serious fabric envy after seeing all those blocks!

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