Excitement lives here!

I was contacted by the Editor and Publisher of Quilter's Connection, Canada's only magazine for quilters. In addition to the magazine there is a free monthly newsletter. Each month, they  feature a pattern, usually created by one of their staff members. However sometimes they like to feature a quilt designer or blogger that they have come across with interest. (insert drum roll here) Apparently they came across my blog and have requested permission to feature my pattern for Cherry Blossom! How exciting is that? Very exciting! I had been looking my quilt and 15 minutes later there was the email from Quilter's Connection! Such a coincidence!

Cherry Blossom by Karen H 2013

Free pattern available under Patterns by Karen H

I love this quilt - it is certainly one of my favourites.  All of the nine patches were made from scraps. I cut them up into 1 1/2" squares and arrange them on a 6" square of flannel. I keep a stack of these flannels beside my sewing machine and I use the nine patch pieces as leaders and enders when I am sewing. As I finish each block I give it a press and toss it in a box of other nine patches. I have literally hundreds of these nine patches and have made at least a dozen quilts with them! To make Cherry Blossom I dipped into my stash of 3" nine patches and pulled all the pink blocks. When there were no more pinks I pulled oranges, then golds and finally reds.

Close up of Cherry Blossom quilt

Here you can see the Zebra Girls and Zebra Fellow on the quilt. I did the quilting on my domestic sewing machine.

Another example of what I've done with the scrap nine patches is my Baskets and Nine Patches quilt which is a reproduction of an antique quilt that was in a Quilt Engagement Agenda from the 1980s. I didn't have to make a single nine patch block for this quilt - they were all taken from the box of completed scrap blocks! This is another quilt for which I've published a free pattern under the tab Patterns by Karen H.

Baskets and Nine Patches by Karen H 2013

This third quilt is also made from scrap nine patches. I call it Piccadilly to the Nines because there is a feature fabric in the quilt and it is called Piccadilly. The quilt is short one border in the first picture; you can see the final border in the second picture. There are loads of little churn dash blocks in this quilt and they are just a variation on the nine patch!

Piccadilly to the Nines by Karen H

This is a fourth quilt made with the scrap nine patch blocks. You will also see some little churn dash and shoo-fly blocks. The half square triangles (HST) were made with 2" squares. I hate to waste fabric so rather than trim larger blocks down to 1 1/2" for nine patches I used them to make the HSTs.  I also used leftover strips - two 1" strips sewn together yield a 1 1/2" strip from which I can cut 1 1/2" squares. There are all sorts of ways to arrange the pieced squares and HSTs. I had a post about them here.

To The Nines by Karen H

So there you have it - I'm not just about hexagons. I also love the humble nine patch! If you use your small scraps as leaders and enders you will soon have a good sized pile of blocks that will be ready to turn into something fabulous! The variety of fabrics will add depth and complexity to a quilt!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H