Thursday, June 07, 2007

Play

I'm still struggling with how I should quilt Sing a Rainbow, mostly because the fabrics I used make this one of my favorite projects to date and I don't want to screw it up! I don't have much left of these fabrics, so I wanted to play around with the leftovers a bit together before the last bits end up in the scrap bag. There have been a lot of great doll quilts posted recently (including the May Whip-up challenge and this great Flickr pool) and I thought I could try a couple things. Who knows - maybe providing a little hand quilting practice!

The first (above) is a disappearing nine-patch, inspired by this quilt and using this great tutorial. It's 12" x 16".

The nine-patches:






The second one I made using this cool tutorial (Barbara gave instructions here, too) and using some strips from my red/yellow strip blocks. I decided to join the strips diagonally (like when making binding) thanks to inspiration from Judith. It's 11" x 16".


They're just tops right now. I'd like to piece the battings from scraps - does anyone have some tips (or even a tutorial) for this?

I had so much fun with these little tops that I think I'm going to join this doll quilt swap. (The last day to sign up is June 17th. Edited June 12: sign-ups were capped at 100, but there will be another swap in the fall!)

By the way, since Lily kindly asked, the nightmare editing is finished and this play was my celebration! Finally, one more 1:30am photo:

21 comments:

Joyce said...

The disappearing nine-patch is such a cool idea. I love how it turned out.

The Calico Cat said...

Neat, I think the best part of the doll quilt format is the ability to "play!" I e-mailed privately about the batting...

Lily Mulholland said...

Wow I love the disappearing nine-patch - I haven't seen that before.

And that strip top - the chicks fabric!!!!!! Way too cute :)

Well done celebrating!

Anonymous said...

Love the fabrics you are playing with. The disappearing 9 patch is awesome.

Glad to hear the nightmare editing is over.

I love your light in the middle of the night shots!

Libby said...

Love 'em both.

Judith said...

I am glad I could be an inspiration for you. I love both quilts.

Dzeniferka said...

Love the colors in "Sing a Rainbow"! And why not inspired by such early morning/late night light? :)

Samantha said...

All of these are fabulous! I was so inspired by the last round of doll quilts that i joined the new swap!

Feeling Simply Quilty said...

I'd quilt it in the shape of bow ties. Cute quilt.

Deb Geyer said...

The disappearing 9-patch is so cool. I love it. Thanks for sharing!

Bea said...

Great way´s to make funny quilts - thanks for the links!

Helen in the UK said...

I'm so thrilled you found my tutorial helpful. What a great quilt you made - beautiful colours. It is fun to play on the smaller scale :)

Meeri said...

Thanks for the idea! I was thinking of making one quilt for a friends oldest daughter, maybe this is it!

CONNIE W said...

Enjoyed your post and the photo which still amazes me!

Anonymous said...

I just love that disappearing 9 patch. What a cool trick, and to think I'd never seen that before. My mind races with the possibilities! I also love the strippy quilt. The angle joins are perfect.

Anonymous said...

I spent this afternoon piecing a little disappearing 9 patch mini quilt and it's so cool. I got the top all done. Thanks for the inspiration!

Catherine said...

I loved that you sewed the strips on the diagonal. It gives great movement.

Amanda Jean said...

your quilts are beautiful. I love your use of color.

Diana said...

I love how that disappearing nine patch turned out. Lovely fabrics!

jovaliquilts said...

It's so great to see the nine patches laid out as they originally were and then witness the transformation. I really like it! Thanks for posting both photos.

I've been scrolling through looking at some of your postings and your colors are wonderful!
Cheri

Michi said...

I love "Sing A Rainbow"... it's so pretty! I have to agree with everyone else on here, your choice of colors is fantastic. How are ya, lady?