A spring-time disappearing 9-patch

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I wanted to make a quilt for my aunt, who has always been a very special person in my life. But time passes and things don’t get done and you know how it goes. (sigh)

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So one day last spring I was sorting my sewing room and I came upon an unfinished quilt top. It’s one I started way back when. Before I had (mostly) mastered the art of matching corners, lol.

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I’m not sure why I put it away and didn’t finish it. I think maybe I felt (at the time) that the colours were too bright, or maybe I didn’t like using grey for the background neutral. I really have no idea.

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Anyway, it was spring when I pulled it out and all the spring flowers were in full bloom. I carried it out and took some pictures with the tulips. And oh my gosh…the quilt just sang!

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Suddenly, every spring colour just jumped out at me, and I realized that every single colour was in the quilt. It screamed Spring!

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That’s one of the things I love about Kate Spain’s fabrics. She really captures the colours in nature.  🙂

020I looked at the grey background and thought of the soft spring rain that comes and melts all the snow, and makes the flowers bloom.

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And I thought to myself, this quilt belongs to my aunt, whose favourite season just happens to be spring.

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Mine, too!

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This is a lap-sized quilt made from the Cuzco collection by Kate Spain. The backing is cream flannel and it was hand quilted in a clam shell pattern. I didn’t wash and dry it before I sent it, but when she does, it will shrink a wee bit and pull around the stitches, creating that wonderful crinkly look that makes a quilt so soft and snuggly.

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Disappearing 9-patch (Australia Quilt part 2)

Hello again!

I thought I would explain what a disappearing 9-patch is for those of you non-quilters out there who check into my blog once in awhile. 🙂

You’re welcome! 🙂

A nine patch block is made up of 9 squares (patches) that are sewn together in three rows of three. Usually (but not always) alternating light and dark patches. Here is one of the nine-patches that is going into the Australia Quilt,:

002Now let’s make it disappear!

First I am going to cut it exactly in half, using the center block as my guide. That’s right – take a deep breath and slice that baby in half!

003Now, without disturbing it, rotate your mat and cut again the other direction, exactly in half, again measuring from the left side of the center square:

005Now lets make it disappear!

Flip the top left and bottom right blocks around so they are facing the other way:

23-03-2014 4-43-09 PMLike so:

006And Ta Da! Your nine-patch has disappeared!

Ordinarily you would sew them together at this point:

007However! Here’s a twist – the pattern I’m following calls for some extra white space added in. So I’ve sewn strips down the center to open it up a bit. Now the disappearing nine-patches look like this:

013 Here’s a recap: From standard nine-patches:

028To disappearing nine-patches (with a spacer strip):

014And here’s another disappearing 9-patch quilt top done the regular way (without the spacing strips):

011Pretty cool, eh?

Stay tuned for the next installment of Australia Quilt as I become a maverick and leave the pattern directions behind and head off in my own direction!