Blooming 9-Patch
So I've been bitten by the quilting bug, I think. After finishing up my Serenity quilt top, I went ahead and signed up for another class at Quiltology focusing on a quilt design called a "Blooming 9 Patch" (you can see an example of this quilt, Blooming Belle at the Quiltology website.).
This quilt is going to be rather larger than Serenity -- big enough for the queen-sized bed in my guest bedroom. The bedroom is a bit on the dark side, so I wanted the quilt to bring some light into the room with its color. However, the bed itself is a dark wood sleigh bed, so also wanted the edges of the quilt to look a bit like they were blending into the wood of the bed at the edges.
Because I'd focused on greens and blues in Serentity (and because these are the colors I almost always focus on), I really wanted to go outside my normal boundaries a bit and work in a different color spectrum. I started putting it together when Colette pointed out a new fabric she'd just received -- the dark batik print at the top of the pile. This fabric is dark, but it has splashes of green, red, orange and blue. It's really stunning in person. The other fabric that I loved (and had been looking at for a while in the store) was the red/orange/yellow batik that is the third fabric from the bottom of the picture. After I had those picked out, I selected others from the collection of batik fabrics at Quiltology with the intention of creating a harmonious progression from the dark batik to the yellow print fabric I wanted to have at the center of the quilt. The process reminded me a little bit of selecting yarn for my Charlotte's Web shawl. I had a little help from Colette (I think it's never a bad thing to take advantage of the help you can get from another experienced set of eyes) but I'm happy to say that most of the selections here are my own.
So now I'm all ready for my first class, which will involve a lot of strip piecing and will introduce me to some new quilting concepts as well as keep me working on my sewing machine skills. Who'd have ever though I'd be starting on a second quilt top? And thinking about buying a sewing machine of my own?
A queen size quilt! Wow, that's quite an undertaking.
I made a king size Blooming Nine-Patch about 2 years ago for my daughter. It is an amazing quilt and you should love it. I have a picture of the top here:
http://www.denebir.com/quilts/bloomin9after.jpg I chose to have my long-arm quilter do the honors since it measured 120" square.
Dene
wow, i love the colors and think you're quite ambitious! i hope this quilting bug doesn't mean you're swearing off thursday KIP. :(
ohhhhh. now those colors speak to me. warm, inviting shades. yum. particularly like the second from the top and the last 3.
i look forward to following along with your quilting efforts, as that's one craft (due to space requirements) that i don't foresee myself taking on at any time.
happy weekend!
Wow - that pattern is gorgeous, and looks complicated! (although, so far I've learned that nothing in quilting is as complicated as it looks - kind of like knitting) It is going to be gorgeous in the fabrics you've chosen.
The fabrics look great! I love batiks :)
Ok now i'm wondering if YOU got MY emails. i wrote to you at both addresses! :)
great fabrics.
Gorgeous colours. Can't wait to see the progress.
Stunning quilt design and gorgeous array of fabrics. I look forward to following your progress on this quilt.
Ooh how exciting, and your own choices colorwise! They look great.
Wow, I have to say that the colors you chose are just stunning! (And I am not usually attracted to such warm colors, rather favoring a cool palette).
Wow, that's fantastic! I can't wait to see how it turns out. I love your fabric choices, they're just gorgeous.
Ooooh. I love those colors! Can't wait to see how you put them together... Who wouldn't be inspired by that array?
*dusting off sewing machine*
You go girl!
Those are amazing color choices and I look forward to seeing it grow.
It took twenty years for that bug to "unbite" me. I was a passionate quilter before the fiber bug took over. In a fit of nostalgia this past winter, I cut and partially pieced two quilt tops, and recently finished a jean scrap quilt (posted recently to my blog). More recently, it's been rag doll making. Spinning and knitting will be back when my hands feel better. But spring's here, and the gardening...
Impressive! I love your color selections and when I clicked through to see the quilt, I could see what you were going for. It's going to be amazing.