Nine Patch November: Double Nine Patch

It's a top!

Chocolate Box

Double Nine Patch

63 x 75

That one light block right in the middle sort of bothers me. I was thinking I should swap it out with a darker block from the top row BUT then I remembered this is a comfort quilt and not something that will be hung on a wall. So I will probably leave it as is. 

It has been declared Nine Patch November at my house. I've been trying to use bins of both six inch and three inch Nine Patches I have in inventory. I used to swap three inch Nine Patches quarterly for years and although I've made a number of quilts with them I still have quite a few. 

For this quilt I used up most of the three inch Nine Patches that have brown in them. I didn't have quite enough for 30 blocks plus sashing  cornerstones so I did end up having to make more little Nine Patches. I have a LOT of brown scraps so that was no problem. 

I mentioned in a previous post that I was inspired to make this by a photo from my book "History Repeated" by Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle. 

I used a lot of dark browns and reds in the Double Nine Patch blocks. 

You can't tell from the photos but the middle strip in the sashings is an old red calico with blue flowers. I had just enough of it, thank goodness. I used a variety of dark browns for the other two strips in the sashings. I didn't have enough of any one fabric to use. 

I think this is the last Nine Patch top for the month. My next post will probably be about what happened to all the scraps left over from making this month's Nine Patch tops from scraps.

In December I think everything will be coming up roses. 

 

Nine Patch November: Puss In The Corner

It's a top!

Puss in the Corner

aka Uneven Nine Patch 

59 x 72

I have declared it "Nine Patch November" at my house. This month I've been working on Nine Patch inventory reduction- both 3 inch and 6 inch Nine Patches. 

For this one I used 3 inch (finished) Nine Patches as the center of Uneven Nine Patches (aka Puss in the Corner blocks).  I used Nine Patches from inventory with dark corners and centers and lights for the other four pieces. Then I tried to match up the border pieces with the fabric in the Nine Patches. I was able to use a lot of the scraps of the scraps left over from making the Path and Stiles blocks in my previous post. 

I added sashing between blocks that formed little Nine Patches with light corners. It was not easy to keep all those little pieces in the correct order between adding sashing between columns and rows. 

I don't have a design wall and more or less sew blocks together randomly. In this case I tried to keep the lighter blocks on top and keep the darker blocks for bottom rows. I just do this as I web together blocks. The sashing added another whole dimension to the way I usually work - I also had to think a little bit in order to form those little Nine Patches in the sashing. I don't normally add sashing or borders to my quilts. But this time I think it was worth it and good brain exercise. 

And now my inventory of 3 inch Nine Patches is 120 blocks lighter. BUT the bin is not empty. 

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

 

Nine Patch November: Path and Stiles

I just returned home yesterday afternoon from a short trip to a state park. Five of my husband's seven siblings and spouses rented a cabin rented a cabin in the woods and a good time was had by all although I think some folks (mostly women but not me) were disappointed that internet connectivity was almost nil and they became rather anxious. I think it's nice to get away for a bit but I am always glad to be back home. Groups of people make me anxious and I'm not much of a socializer. 

Today I finished up the rest of my Path and Stiles blocks. I now have 100 of these nine inch finished blocks. 

It's Nine Patch November at my house. I chose to try to reduce both my inventory of six and three inch Nine Patches. I swapped three inch Nine Patches quarterly for a number of years and although I've made a lot of quits that use them I still have a bin of them. I used some of those Nine Patches as the centers of these blocks. 

I went through my chunk scraps and tried to match up my scraps to the Nine Patch centers. I actually had a lot of fun doing that. 

Now my three inch Nine Patch inventory is 100 Nine Patches lighter. 

After I finishing ironing the remainder of the blocks they will all go into the Some Assembly Required box where complete blocks sets rest until I feel like assembling a top. 

Now I have a little stack of 3.5 inch width pieces to deal with and my Shoe Box project box will be ready for another project. 

 

Nine Patch November: Puss In The Corner

This month I've been working on the reduction of my Nine Patch inventory in the Parts Department. 

I used three inch nine patches for the centers of Puss In The Corner blocks that finish at 5 inches. I think Puss In The Corner is also called Uneven Nine Patch so I guess I turned even Nine Patches into Uneven Nine Patches.  

For years I used to swap these little three inch Nine Patches and although I have made numerous quilts with them I still am over inventory! 

To make these blocks I picked out the ones with the dark corners and center and white or cream for the other four pieces. I tried to match my scraps with the Nine Patches to make the outside border. 

Now I have 120 blocks which was my goal.  

I think I'm going to assemble them with sashing so that the sashing will form little Nine Patches with light corners as the cornerstones.  So I guess my next task is to cut sashing pieces and sets of four 1.5 inch colored squares. 

 

Nine Patch November: Nine Patches and Snowballs

Nine Patches and Snowballs

60 x 72

It's a flimsy!

This month I decided to reduce my three and six inch Nine Patch inventory so have declared it Nine Patch November at my house. 

This is the third quilt top I have made this month with six inch Nine Patches. (I previously made Sister's Choice and Framed Nine Patch tops in the 40 x 60 size).

I think this setting for Nine Patches and Snowballs looks like flowers. In my garden I have a few multicolor flowers that come in a range of colors from peach, yellow, apricot, pink, orange to dark red. I had those in mind when I made this quilt. 

I used red and yellow six inch Nine Patches from the Parts Department. I made most of those last year as one of my last blocks to empty out a 2.5 inch scrap bin that had been full for years. 

Most of the Snowballs came from wide backing scraps. I was going to make all of the corners of the snowballs with orange scraps but I didn't have enough orange scraps (I didn't want to cut up the larger scrap chunks- just wanted to use little bits and pieces) so threw in some scraps of reds and yellows and pinks for the corners too. 

Although I still have quite a few six inch Nine Patches I think this may be the last top I'll make this month from the six inch Nine Patches.  I'm trying to complete a couple of block sets made with the 3 inch Nine Patches before month end.

And on to the next!

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

 

Nine Patch November: Sister's Choice and Framed Tops

Two Tops

Both 40 x 60

I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I wanted to concentrate this month on using both three and six inch Nine Patches. The Parts Department needs an inventory reduction!

Last year, I finally emptied out my 2.5 inch scrap bin and one of the last blocks I made was Nine Patches.  Since then whenever I have 2.5 inch left overs  I have also made Nine Patches. 

I picked out some of the lighter colored Nine Patches and turned them into 10 inch (finished) Sister's Choice blocks. 

I had set aside a little box of pastel colored scrap chunks to make some Sawtooth Stars blocks for baby quilts so used some of those scraps to cut the pieces for the HSTs and squares needed to turn the Nine Patches into Sister's Choice blocks. 

I also have a little drawer with neutral scrap chunks that doesn't seem to have a bottom so that's what I used for the neutral backgrounds. 

This one is a little bit wilder. I picked out the multicolored Nine Patches for this one and turned them into 10 inch (finished) Framed Nine Patches. Actually they could be called Happy Nine Patches because I made them the same way I make Happy Blocks. 

I also had a little box of multicolored scrap chunks to use for the frames.  

I tried to pick out mostly blue multicolor but didn't have quite enough frames so added in a few orange frames. 

Next I will be working on a larger top that uses red and yellow nine patches. And I'm working on several tops that use 3 inch Nine Patches. More on that later. 

 

Nine Patch November: Path and Stiles

I've found it helpful to move "stuff" forward in the sewing room to devote each month to a theme of my choice. In August I worked on orphan block reduction. In September I worked only on quilting. In October I worked on string reduction. Except for September when I only did quilting I did work on other things besides the theme. I declare it Nine Patch November here in the sewing room. I have a bin of 3 inch Nine Patches from years of swapping and I am already in the midst of three different quilts that will make use of them.  I also have a bin of  6 inch Nine Patches that I made last year as one of the blocks to empty the 2.5 inch scrap bin. I have also been making 6 inch Nine Patches when I have had 2.5 inch scraps left over from other projects. The bin is full and I have divided those Nine Patches up into several different piles for several different quilts. I will work on some of those in November too. 

I just finished all of these Path and Stiles blocks that finish at 9 inches. I've been using 3 inch Nine Patches for the centers and have been trying to match fabrics from my stash (scrap chunks if I can) to finish the blocks. 

I started these a few months ago and now have 55 of them. I think they would look good in a big bed quilt so am aiming for 100 Path and Stiles blocks. 

I think I'm also going to try to sneak in some work with rose themed fabrics in November. I've been assembling a top that uses rose themed fabrics and I have had a bin of dark rose themed fabric scraps just waiting to be used. I know what I'm going to do with those scraps. I just need to do. 

Finished OR NOT FINISHED Friday at Alycia Quilts