Sunday, February 7, 2010

My yellow 9-patch blocks


The sewing project I worked on at the retreat was one I have wanted to tackle for a long time.

I bought some old quilt blocks at an antique shop a while back. They were not fancy but the colors appealed to me. I wanted a quilt from those yellows, blues and pinks. Trouble was, the blocks were not the same size. I puzzled for quite a while over how to set them together.

As I saw pictures of more quilts made by Anna Williams, I decided her technique would work for these blocks. I could treat the blocks as the center, then add sashing, then add another border of scrappy piecing. I have been collecting fabrics to use in this quilt for a while (from my stash, garage sales, thrift shops).

I took them to the retreat and started to work. I didn't measure anything, I just cut strips to border the blocks. I pieced together smaller scraps and trimmed them into strips when they were long enough to become the next border.

The blocks went together more quickly than I'd hoped. I finished 9 of them so far, I plan to finish 12 total. I'll add sashing as I stitch them together, then figure out the border.

Here is my workspace at the retreat. I'm afraid it frightened a few of the more orderly stitchers. 



7 comments:

  1. Yikes, I feel like a cleanie after seeing your "space". But I do spy the blocks - bottom left - so maybe there is hope.... will wait for the next yellow, blue and pink post to say more......

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  2. When I saw the way you work at the workshop...I just said she is my kind of girl...I do the same thing. It is great fun to work with antique blocks like that. Good job.

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  3. What great blocks! And easy to square up to unify the size. I like that! And your workspace is so necessary to scrap quilting.

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  4. What a fantastic project! I love that you are using blocks someone else made and adding your own special touch. I love the look of what you've accomplished so far.

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  5. You are channelling Anna Williams. Hooray!!! We are trying. Where would we be without her inspiration? Love colors, blocks, and attitude. What a fun way to work.

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  6. That ice plant is gorgeous! Would love to see that around here. I make a huge mess when I quilt too.

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  7. Wonderful! I also love this method of piecing. Let's get that AW book republished! We'll see Gwen Marston soon. Maybe she'll have some pull with AQS Books.

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