Scrap Basket Sunday #5 The One with the NIne Patches

Hi Everyone,

If you've dropped by this week, you may have read that I was working on some nine-patch blocks, squeezing some quilting time in between all the stuff I had going on.  This is why.

I don't think I ever blogged about this quilt.  I made it in Hawaii.  Many of the members of my Bee there bought this kit.  I didn't, but then one of the ladies didn't want hers, so I paid her for it.  The kit came with white background fabric, but I wanted to change it up, so I replaced the white with black.

 

It had another border--a plain black one 4.5" wide.  It finished at around 73 or 75 inches square.  I really get frustrated with that size.  It is fairly large for a lap, but not big enough for a bed.  Anyway, if you read this blog with any regularity, you probably have realized that this is not "me."

 

When I finished it in Hawaii, I put it away, although I did show it to my daughter.  It is her style.  Anyway, about a month ago, I got a text asking me if I could make her a quilt for the bed.  This was huge!  About 10 years or more ago, she told me she didn't like the way my quilts feel.  I like the flat, cotton, antique feel, but she likes the puff of a comforter.  For her to ask for a quilt was amazing!  And gratifying!

 

I pulled this out and tried to determine how to make it larger.  I needed about 8 inches more border all the way around.  I mulled things over, came up with a plan, and proceeded.  Luckily I had lots of leftovers/scraps.  I began by deciding to remove the 4.5" black border, leaving me with the quilt as it is above.  I would then need to add a border that was at least 12 inches wide.

 

Next, I began making nine patches.  Lots of them.  I wanted to alternate them with plain black squares, in three rows.  Therefore, to get 12 inches of border with three rows, the blocks had to finish at 4 inches.  Four divided by three is not a fun number to use in quilting.  Instead of playing with third of an inch measurements, I figured I could cut the strips and segments at 1 7/8" and  use a quarter inch seam allowance (instead of the scant quarter inch) and just do some slight trimming.

 



It worked like a charm!

 

 

I just needed 126-7 of them.  I made about 133 so I would have some extras in case things were too "matchy" in areas.

It didn't take too long.  I loved having them all trimmed and squared up.  They are so neat-looking.

I spent my free day on Friday assembling the borders and attaching them.  Once I got them on, I finished with another narrow green border.

This is how it came out.

As you can see, I was trying to echo the diagonal lines from the center.  I also didn't want to fuss around with something complicated.  All in all, I think it came out great. 

I was lucky that I had enough scraps from the original project so that I could add on.  It will get sent off to the longarmer this week.  The backing is black, too, so I purchased a black batting.  Have you seen them or used them?   I decided to get poly, also, so that it would be fluffy like my daughter likes.

Maybe next week I can get back to my Simply Charming book.

Have a great day,
JoAnne