I have made quite a few quilts that have challenged my sewing skills, but late in 2008 I really wanted to make some quilts that were made from simple and easy to piece blocks.
I have chosen nine patch blocks as they are fairly quick and easy to sew but are highly effective in showing off lovely fabrics. I also selected predominately red and pink fabrics, with just a small splash of orange. The finished size of each nine-patch block is 6 inches.
In the center of each nine-patch is a solid white fabric which gives the quilt a balanced, fresh and modern look. White fabric is also used for sashing to separate each block, with a small fussy cut corner block. The finished sashing width is 1 inch.
The small corner stone block in the sashing is a favorite Liberty Fabric which was fussy cut to so that all these little blocks are identical. I do love Liberty Fabrics, they are a dream to sew with and have the most beautiful designs, feel and drape, however, they are just so expensive in Australia, retailing at $AUD50.00 per meter! AAaaaargh!
I also pieced the back of the quilt. I generally don't have large quantities of fabric pieces in my stash, as a result I often piece the back of my quilts. I must admit that I do enjoy the process of piecing the back!
The bird fabric is from Alexander Henry called "Starling"
This quilt was basted using cotton batting, which I think results in thin quilt that has a nice drape. I then quilted it on my domestic sewing machine, again just using straight lines by cross-hatching diagonally and by quilting "in the ditch" either side of all the sashing.
I chose a red with white polka dot binding to frame this quilt. I like my binding edge to be quite small, therefore I cut binding strips at 2.25" rather than what seems to be the standard 2.5" strips.
The finished quilt measures 42" x 42".
I really enjoyed the selection process for the fabrics in this quilt, and finding a way to combine them together so that the red and pink fabrics don't clash by adding the solid white fabric. It is also a quilt made with a very traditional block and simple sewing techniques, that has been given a fresh and modern make-over by using bright and colorful fabrics.
I hope you enjoyed this quilt from my quilt stash!
