The Nine Patch Connection

When Barb Vedder

of Fun With Barb

organizer a nine patch swap in June of 2014,

I decided to join in.

And I'm glad I did.

My 3" reproduction nine patch blocks 

were mailed to her,

she did her magic of swapping them around,

and I in return received beautiful nine patches

made from 50 different quilters around the world. 

Barb's tutorial for making fast

and accurate nine patches can be found

on her blog Here.

It's a great method.

I wanted to do something special 

with these blocks.

Here's what I came up with,

nine patches side by side and 

 two borders of appliqued leaves.

The colors just say fall,

 especially with the cheddar fabric behind the applique.

 I did big stitch quilting using

 

both an orange mustard and a medium bark

Aurifil #12 

which is their heaviest cotton thread

 on a spool.

 

It was beautiful thread to work with

and never frayed as I stitched.

I had to order it online from

Pumpkinvine Corner

out of Georgia.

 It was a wonderful project to participate in.

Thanks again to everyone who included blocks.

 I feel connected with so many quilters

just by their sweet little nine patches.

I also wanted to show you the tree I was using 

for my photo shoot.

It was a magnificent old cottonwood tree

living in the field behind my house.

In the spring,

a storm gave it a mighty push 

and down it can.

It would take at least 4-5 people

to circle the circumference of the base.

It's sad to see

this mighty tree toppled over,

but I could tell other critters 

had taken up residence in the fallen branches. 

So her usefulness continues on.

As I age, I hope

that can always be said about me.

Until Next Time-