Weekly update: lots of nine-patches and ORL, part 1

Stalled (1/4 of the center quilted)

On Monday I began to quilt the baby quilt I posted last week.  My trusty Pfaff quit working -- the belt kept slipping.  I took it to the shop. The repairman was on vacation so it will be a while until it's fixed.  I pulled out Sweetness, the Singer 301.  After a couple of drops of oil it purred smoothly. I'm not confident about FMQing with it but I can certainly use it for piecing.

And piece I did!

Here's Clue #1 of On Ringo Lake, the new Quiltville mystery.

These nine-patches were quick to make. I'm quite sure that subsequent units will be more involved.

The Block Swappers exchange 3.5" nine-patches three or four times a year.  Each swap yields 60 nine-patches.  I'm always on the alert for interesting ways to set these cute blocks.

Here are the nine-patch variation blocks I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.  After I began sewing the sashing to the blocks I realized I won't have enough to sash all of them. I will either make a smaller quilt or improvise.











I found another block that incorporates the mini-nines.  It's by Sherri Bain Driver and was published in McCall's Quilter's Workshop, a 2011 special edition.  I took photos of a block in progress so you can see how it's put together.

Four 2-5/8" squares, two dark and one light 3-3/8" squares, and a 3.5" nine-patch.













Pieces laid out.

Sections sewn together.

If you try this, let me know!

Meanwhile, I'm adding Quiltville to the Monday link up line-up that includes
Oh, Scrap!
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday
Main Crush Monday