Quilt Along: Top o' the Quilt to Ye!

Day 27.

I love this quilt for so many reasons. I love every scrap of fabric - here's one from that dress I made for my daughter, here's a bit of that tie I made for my husband, the curtains in our dining room, my son's baby quilt, the birthday banners, that shopping trip with my mom/sister/dear friends, that fat-quarter swap with a total stranger. I love how it is so much like my life right now - the hodge-podge of fabrics put together in a tidy pattern; the organized chaos; the fact that when I'm in the middle of it I'm not really sure it's going to look nice in the end, but when I step back and see the big picture I realize it's just exactly what I wanted it to be like - yes, that's definitely like my life right now.

I finished over 30 nine-patch squares, but didn't end up using all of them in my quilt - I'll save the extras for some other one in the future.

I decided that 7 blocks x 7 blocks was just about as much as I was willing to sew up, and it worked out just right, I think. The finished size with the borders is 59" square - perfect for getting cozy on the sofa, or tossing out on the lawn for a sudden picnic, or draping over a napping Loved One.



I even love how the not-nine-patch blocks break up the pattern a little. I shuffled them in randomly ... and then I was a little bummed that most of them ended up on the outside, and that there are two right next to each other there. But I got over it pretty quickly - I mean, that's the whole point of random, isn't it?



For the borders, I did a 2" white strip, then a strip of 2.5" scrap squares, and finally a 5.5" strip of this thrift-store sheet I've been using pieces of here and there. I love how it's mostly white, but not completely - I think it fits in well with the pattern.



When I pieced the scrappy border together, I just made one really long strip of squares. I stitched it onto one side, trimmed it, and then stitched it on the other side. Repeat with top and bottom. I didn't even worry about making the corners perfect - because that's just the way I roll.

Here are the specs, then, in case you're a numbers sort of person - I counted it all up just for you:

For the nine-patch blocks (25 blocks total):
125 2.5" squares of scrap fabric
100 2.5" squares of white fabric

For the white alternating blocks:
24 6.5" squares of white fabric

For the first border:
2" wide strips of white fabric

For the scrappy (second) border:
approximately 96 2.5" squares of scrap fabric

For the third border:
5.5" wide strips of patterned fabric

Finished size: 59" square.

I'm going to quilt it this week - I'm so excited to put it together with the fabric I found for the backing and binding. If you have questions about the quilting part of ... well ... quilting, please let me know.

And please post a comment if you've been quilting along - I'd love to hear (and see!) how your quilts are shaping up!