N is for Nine Patch

The nine patch is one of the simplest of blocks for the beginner patchworker. The first block swaps I participated in as a novice quilter were 9 Patch swaps. 

Nine patches are a traditional quilt block made with nine simple squares. Three rows of three squares create quilt design that is versatile, traditional and trendy — all at the same time. For many years, nine patches were one of the first blocks taught to young girls learning how to quilt. Today, most beginner quilt classes include a nine patch block. (www.Craftsy.com)  

The swaps I participated in were through an online group I had joined called Southern Cross Quilters, a group for patchworkers in Australia and New Zealand or expats living abroard. Each month we had a different theme, sometimes a colour was stipulated and we would send our blocks into the co-ordinator and get the same number of blocks back. I was a very keen participator although I eventually pulled out as I wasn't doing anything with the blocks once I'd received them. Eventually I set to and made a good few nine patch quilts.

a Christmas quilt I made for my mum and dad using some of the nine patches from the swap

This quilt was made using green nine patches

I made this quilt for my niece who had been ill

I discovered that there were many variations of the nine patch, not just the one I was making which was usually just 2 different  and contrasting fabrics arranged.

These 2 quits were giant nine patches in them selves

 When my mum turned 80 I co-ordinated the family making her a quilt. It was a giant nine patch and all but 2 of the blocks were also nine patches. 8 patches represented her children with the centre patch being for Dad and her.

Even the back was a nine patch

Mum loved her quilt and its still on her bed in her nursing home today

Craftsy has a great article here out lining how to make the traditional nine patch as well as the many different types of nine patch blocks.

M is for Mum

I've written about my mum on this blog before but she's pretty special and worth writing about again.
I wrote about the quilt I made for her 80th birthday here and did a general post about her here


Mum will be 93 in September. She is currently living in an assisted living establishment in Sydney. She's been in the hostel since my father died in 2008.



Mum has always been someone who has kept busy. She learned to embroider whilst still a girl and continued to do so all her life when she had the opportunity. With 8 children including 6 under 8 when I was born she didn't always have much time. She said that being in hospital after the birth of the baby was one of the only opportunities she had to stitch for a good few years. And some of the supper cloths she fancy worked took several babies to finish. She made this doily for me when I was a teenager. I don't think I really appreciated it at the time but I still have it and love it. Its been stained from use but that means it got used!

She also did some fancy work for each of my kids. She made this for one of my boys. At the moment they aren't really of an age to appreciate it. One day when they have their own homes all nicely set up they might want it back... and I might give it back. .. note I said might

I asked her to embroider a cloth for me when my kids were little. I bought the printed cloth and the cottons and gave it to her. She sent it up to me, finished in a very short time and then was a bit disappointed in how long it took me to get the crotcheting around the edge done. I think she forgot how busy life could be with so many little ones. (I only had 4... but still....) I love this cloth. Again it has a few marks on it because it gets used... and I'm not the world's best launderer.

She used to make fancy dress costumes for us to wear to the annual fancy dress ball in our small community when we were young.

She even had a go at hand tinting old black and white photographs

She loved to write and completed a creative writing course whilst I was growing up and later she wrote a book on her mother's life as a young woman

Over the last few years she has been stitching things for me which I have been incorporating into quilts that I have given to her great grandchildren when they are born.

I have also made some of them into little wall quilts.

I love using the stitcheries she completes to make little gifts for important people. She's not going to be with us forever but her beautiful craft work will last into the future creating family legacies for generations to come.

WIP Wednesday Progress!

Been working on a few different things this week.

Blue Jeans Quilt
All 190 of the circles I have cut have the 5" square drawn inside them. I have been chasing some more jeans. I had several lots promised to me but they haven't arrived. Today I was able to visit a Salvo's store that had a $5 a bag special on so I was able to get 5 pair of jeans. A friend gave me 2 pair as well. Then I got a phone call to say another quilting friend had secured a large bag of jeans for me from a clean out at the charity shop she volunteers at. Safe to say I will now have PLENTY of jeans to complete the project. Just have to get moving on it

Disappearing Hour Glass Quilt
I made great progress on this today as I was at an all day quilting get together with a neighbouring quilt group. I got all my hst trimmed up (using my quilt in a day ruler designed for this) and the hour glass blocks made. Tomorrow I will get to iron the blocks and then cut them up to make them disappear. I am going to have to watch the youtube clip a few times tonight to get the process clear in my head.... or take my computer with me to patchwork tomorrow and work on them there.

Disappearing into the Blue and Sunburnt Zebras are both now labelled so I can class them as truly finished.

I have also dug out some of the embroidery blocks my mum made me. I am planning on making 4 of them into seasonal quilt hangings. They were designed to go together in one quilt depicting all 4 seasons but I am going to make them into separate ones. I am trying to use up some of the scrap hst that I have left over from making flying geese in my SOMB quilts in the borders for these mini quilts. We will see how it goes. I took a pile of bits and pieces with me today to work on as well but didn't get to them. Thought I might get sick of the hour glass blocks and I did at the end but was so close to finishing I just pressed on. So pleased to have it done.

I have an red work embroidery of an outside dunny (toilet/loo/bathroom) that I am going to make into a smalling hanging to go on the outside of the toilet door. I have a cross stitched picture of a cat in a bath that Fangirl made many years ago that hangs on the bathroom door. I got a border put on it and have it pinned ready for me to quilt it. I've see a tutorial of a self hanger you can stitch into the binding somehow that I am going to try to locate and do that for the hanger.

 

Decluttering Challenge



Still going slowly with this. 
Day 19. Cleaned out my handbag to take it away. I only have one so it didn't take long
Day 20 Email box - have been continuing to try to get rid of the rubbish. I am setting up lots of rules so emails get diverted to particularly relevant folders which helps me find stuff I need and delete stuff too
Day 21 Someday clutter - nope... haven't done anything with this. Will get to it... someday LOL
Day 22 Electronics and cords. Yes did this one. Got my husband to help me go through all the cords in various drawers and and boxes and we got rid of the ones that were surplus to requirement. I found a place I could send the old phone cords to which was great... post free. It was good to go through things and it came in handy when our club was chasing a cord to connect the computer to the printer. I knew we had a spare and where it was
Day 23 Cosmetics. Cleaned these out when we did the great bathroom renovations
Day 24 Kitchen Counters. Gave these a good clean down on Monday
Day 25 Craft supplies - nope not happened! I did go through the cupboard a six months or so ago but think it could do with a go through.
Day 26 Books and DVDs. DVDs -We've been through these a fair bit over the last few years. Books - have started to go through our bookshelves. Have found some that belong to our daughter and a few I can get rid of. Hope to do a lot more.


Linking up with

Throwback Thursday. Mum's 80th birthday Quilt

I have an amazing wonderful mum. I have blogged about her before here

In 2002 she turned 80. I had only been quilting for a year then but I decided I wanted to make her a quilt to commemorate this special birthday, to celebrate her life and to reflect her interests, values and her family. Each of my 7 siblings either made a block or had one made for them that reflected their family. I ended up making 5 of the blocks, my 2 sisters in law made one each for their family and one sister made one for her family and one for another sister. 9 blocks  in all. I arranged the blocks from each of my siblings and myself around a central block that celebrated Mum and Dads' life and marriage.


At the time of making this quilt I was a new quilter and had a very limited stash, particularly picture fabrics. I was a member of an online quilting group called Southern Cross Quilters, which was for Australian and New Zealand Quilters. Through them I was also a member of a group called Year Quilters who had regular swaps of conversation (ie picture) fabric. I was able to ask on this group for some special requests. One lady with an embroidery machine made me a number of special things for mum reflecting her Christian faith, as I was having trouble sourcing fabric reflecting this. 

I wasn't really sure how to approach the blocks but my sister Joy made her 2 blocks first based on a 9 patch with each patch reflecting family interest. I used her idea as the basis of the 5 blocks I made. Here are the blocks organised from my oldest sibling down to me, the baby of the family.

Oldest sister Beth. Her husband was a builder, her son a volunteer fireman. She was a book author and loved gardening. Her daughter was currently travelling overseas. As a family they loved to ski (sewn by me)

Joy's block reflecting her family interests - teaching, soccer, chooks and cats, music, their Christian faith and their beloved Bulldogs football team (sewn by Joy herself)

Midge's blck. Their family love of horses, travelling, my b.i.ls occupation as a drama teacher, my sister's as a librarian. their many pets and the fact they lived by the sea. (Sewn by me)

My Brother Frank's block made by his wife Christine (from the blog Bluebirds and Bumblebees)

My block for my sister Patricia. Her middle name is Daisy hence the daisy fabric. Her boys' dad is from the USA. They are into computers, travel, skiing, reading and sports.

Joy made this block for Doff.

My brother George's block made by his wife Barb, reflecting their family interests

My block reflecting my family's interests

The central block pf the quilt. Mum's faith and her love of music. I wrote the details of her parents, her marriage, her children and her grandchildren

My sister-in-law Christine had a poem about family that we were going to embroider on the sashing but we ran out of time so instead we wrote it on. 

Our family's like a patchwork quilt,

With kindness gently sewn;

Each piece is an original,

With beauty of its own.

With threads of warmth and happiness,

It's tightly stitched together

To last in love throughout the years,

Our family is forever.

The back of mum's quilt. I used the fabric I had just learned to dye on the back. The family wrote messages to mum on the back of their squares. Other friends and family who were part of her 80th birthday celebrations signed the quilt around the border.

My mum with quilt. She loved it.