A Nine Patch for Quilters

My favorite part of making a quilt is the quilting.  I just do the other steps so I can get to the quilting part!  Actually, I do enjoy most of the other steps too, but, more often than not, the quilting makes the quilt.

So I designed a nine-patch variation that I'm calling "Sweet Loreta."

I purchased the batiks two years ago, give or take a month or two, to make Loreta a quilt.  Our Victory Prayer Quilt group had completed another quilt in similar colors; Loreta had taken it to a dear friend in Arkansas.  I asked Loreta if those were her favorite colors, and she said yes, so I knew she needed her own quilt in these colors. Our group's prayer quilts go to friends and family (of church members) when they face serious health challenges such as cancer, stroke, and injury.  Loreta is in her nineties, and we want her to stay well. I also want her to have a special quilt while she's healthy and can really enjoy it.

I used a few 2.5 inch strips that I cut from yardage. I sub-cut them to one-half the width so I would have more variety when I pieced.

I made a variety of nine-patch blocks. I made some blocks cut on the diagonal with two shades of watery colored solids. For the snow-ball blocks I was able to use some Kona that has been in my stash for at least twenty years (because, of course, it was so beautiful that it needed to participate in a special quilt).

I did visit Busy Bee Quilts and pick up a watery fabric for a border.  (I haven't yet cut the border, but since I'm eager to get to the quilting part, I'm giving it a high priority, or trying to, anyway.) I will quilt it with the wonderful Affinity 3000 yard spool that I won from Fil-Tec when they introduced their new colors.

I pieced in some surprises, eliminated some seams, and made this a quilt with plenty of space for creativity in the quilting.  Of course, it will be no surprise that I will quilt plenty of feathery goodness into this one!

My offer to my readers is that I'm willing to do a tutorial here on my blog if there is enough interest.  Please leave a comment on this post if interested.  This quilt is jelly roll or fat quarter friendly with the addition of a small amount of yardage for the solid areas.

If you didn't get a chance to enter, my stop on the AMB Blog Trip is open for the give-away (to be closed 6/25/14).  Visit that post if you have a U. S. mailing address and would like to win a fat quarter pack of a few of the fabrics in the American Made Brand group or a set of strips for making the New Mexico block.

I'm thrilled to have new readers following by e-mail, Bloglovin, or other subscriptions.  I'd love to know what subjects readers would like me to share on this blog. Of course, I have so many projects on my plate that it can be challenging to decide what quilt to work on.  I've been making quilts for close to 40 years, and my brain is still generating ideas faster than they can become quilts.  Hmmmm, I wonder if God will let me live longer because I have so many quilts that haven't been made yet!

Happy quiltmaking and knitting......

Monday Postscript:  I'm linking to Judy's Design Wall.
I tried to link to Connie's Freemotion By the River yesterday, but failed since either the college's network was on the fritz (as usual) or because it just doesn't work from a Kindle--so I'm a bit late to that party.