Taking a Look at Little Nine-Patches

Thank you to all you dear readers who left comments on my last post about the little plaid baskets and sashing possibilities for them.  Using light sashing, as suggested by several quilters, would never have come into my mind, but the idea is growing on me.  One of the reasons I love blogging is the collective knowledge and ideas that you/we share.  I ask questions here that are often sharing my thoughts in words--thinking out loud, so to speak--and I'm grateful to readers who answer the questions with ideas of their own.  I especially liked part of Janet's comment in which she wrote,

when I "think out loud" on my blog about things I'm not yet sure I've settled, I sometimes get input from someone that I had never considered.  And sometimes I like it better than what I had in mind.

I find that to be true, too.  So thank you, dear readers, for sharing, always!

I guess "Taking a Look at" may become a short series about in-progress quilts that are almost ready to become tops as I try to make decisions about layout, setting, colors, etc.  This week I'm looking at the little 3" 9-patch blocks I have been making over the past year or so.  My intent with these was to use autumn-ish colors, and I have, but I'm not sure how autumn-like they seem.  I have 114 finished with a few more in progress and pieces already cut to make more.  I'm guessing they may become a child-size quilt. 

In the photo above I'm considering fabric for the alternate blocks as well as whether to place them straight set or on point.  Below are individual photos, going from lightest background to darkest.

What I notice most is that the straight set blocks draw my eye diagonally across the quilt, and the on-point blocks draw my eyes horizontally and vertically.  The other thing I notice is that the colors stand out more on the light and medium backgrounds and the lights stand out more on the darker background.  I'm leaning toward straight set in which the diagonals to stand out but I'm undecided about color of the alternate blocks.  The squares will finish at 1", so they won't be very big.  More of the background will show than any of the little squares.

The other thing I notice about these blocks is how very scrappy they are.  Some of the blocks have a different color/fabric for every square!  Too scrappy?

If you have thoughts about these blocks, layouts, colors, or anything else, I would be pleased to read them.

That's it from me today.  Oh, just one more thing.  Have you seen Gladi Porsche's Maple Leaf Rag?  She really knows how to do autumn colors!  It's gorgeous and positively glows!

I'm linking to
  > To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt
  > Finished (or not ) Friday at Alycia's Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.

Little Four-Patch, Finished!

My first finish of 2016, and completed in about a week!  For slow-poke me it's amazing (even though it is a small quilt).  It was begun and finished so quickly that it didn't even get a page in my note book.

Little Four-Patch is truly a little one at just about 16" x 22".  I thought a doll quilt was in order to go with the doll I made my granddaughter for Christmas.

The small squares were cut at 1 1/2" and the alternate squares at 2 1/2".   I used a diagonal set and added half-square triangles around the edges. 

I was going to layer it with flannel but didn't have a large enough piece of white or natural.  Instead I used a leftover piece of Cream Rose 100% cotton batting.  I was concerned it might be too thick and that the quilt would be stiff but it seemed to be soft and cuddly when it came out of the dryer.  I think it will get softer with use.

Hand quilting such a small quilt was strange.  It was barely big enough to fit into my hoop and when I came to the edges I didn't use the hoop at all.  It's not heavily quilted but there's enough to keep the layers together and hold the batting in place.  I suspect I'll see the quilt often enough that I can either add quilting or repair the quilting if necessary.

I rounded the corners to avoid harsh corners on such a small quilt and used a single-fold binding which I pieced so the binding around the corners was on the bias and the straight sides were cut on the straight grain.  It all seemed to work well for this quilt.

Word has it that my granddaughter wrapped "Baby" in it right away.

I'm linking this post to
 WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden
 Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts
 Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
 Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday at Faith and Fabric

And I'm also linking this post to the January One Monthly Goal (OMG) Finished Party at Red Letter Quilts.

Click over to some of the other link-up posts to have a look at what others have been up to.

Happy Friday!

Nancy.
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Little Four-Patch

I had a little red and white four patch.  And I had in mind to make a little doll quilt.  I put the two together.  In the photo below the four patches are laying on my ironing board.  I was playing with layout and color placement.

I sewed them together with alternating light blocks and put a brown border around the whole quilt.  I finished quilting it today and now I'm working on the binding.

I started this quilt a week ago.  It's been a quick little quilt to work on because I already had most of the colored blocks cut already for a quilt-along in that I didn't quilt along with after all.  Before binding and washing/drying it measures about 16" x 22".

I hope to finish it in a day or two so I can get it in the mail to my granddaughter.

I'm linking this post to
> the January One Monthly Goal Link-up at Red Letter Quilts,
> Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation,
> Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework, and
> Let's Bee Social #106 at Sew Fresh Quilts.
Thanks, ladies.

--Nancy.
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