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
