A while ago (so long I can’t remember when exactly) I signed up with Kristen at Meadowbrook for a nine patch QAL. I put her button in my side bar and started dreaming in nine patches…
In my head I trialled virtually all my fabric in endless combinations but I never actually got round to sewing until last week. I’ve been trying to decide what to do with these red paisley prints for ages but they never seem to go with anything else so I decided to just put them with white because I happened to have enough of it. The squares are 5″ which I chose so I could get a reasonably sized quilt out of them.
It came together very quickly but the white areas are looking very big and very white. So I’ve been wondering whether to embellish it with applique or maybe dresdens…or whether to resist and go with a ‘less is more’ theme…What do you think?
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| nine patch top currently 67 1/2″ square |
At the moment I’m thinking I’ll add a thin white border (to get it to 72″ square because I’ve got most of a queen sized piece of wadding), do some straight line quilting and use the little I have left of these fabrics, together with some solid red, for the binding. Then I’ll see whether it looks ok or needs something more to break up all the white…
Still on the ‘less is more’ theme, the other thing I’ve been thinking about over the Summer is low volume. I came across it back in June when Karen blogged about this lovely quilt she had made. I went to visit this flickr group and drooled over all the beautiful, restful quilts and I resolved to try sewing a bit more quietly. But I haven’t been doing very well! I somehow missed Rebecca Lynne’s Low Volume Swap until it was too late and, although I’ve been very quiet on the blogging front, my sewing seems to have gone to the other extreme. This is my block for Sana in the ‘Scrappy? Sew Be It!’ Bee. Sana said “I love bright colors“. I hope I haven’t taken her too literally…this is an indoor photo and the colours haven’t come out quite right but there’s no getting away from the fact that this is loud!
What have you been thinking about lately? Come over and share your musings at TNT.
I also have two small finishes – Sana’s block and this little bag (blogged here) and the bag has a little hand stitching, although it’s not easy to see in the photo.
RAINBOW HARE 
LynCC
I love your fabric! Very pretty in this. You could certainly go with a less-is-more approach, especially if you feel like doing some feature quilting in the white areas.
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Amys Crafty Shenanigans
Lovely pasiley fabric :) I think less is more – leave the areas white and concentrate on really fancy quilting – like those quilted feathers or something! You know the ones – loopy feathers?
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Karen
Loving the nine patch! Agree that the white can be a focal point with quilting. It will be awesome! :) Such a happy colorful block you made too.
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Celtic Thistle
Love the bright colours, I am definitely not a low volume sewer:)
Agree with the others that feature quilting is the way to go with the white space.
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Archie the wonder dog
I love the nine patch top and agree with the others about some fancy quilting in the white bits! The bright hexagon is fabulous!!
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Lucy @ Charm About You
Janine the quilt top looks gorgeous and I'm inclined to agree with the less is more way of finishing it. You always can add more later :)
Sana's block looks awesome! I love the bright colours!
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Nic
I really like your red and white quilt. I'd keep the white areas as they are and instead use them for large quilting motifs. In white, the traditional way or in red thread if you want to easily see the motif.
That's just me though. I look forward to seeing what you decide to do.
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M-R
Such fun, bright colours in that block and you know I love that white bag! I'm with the less is more on the quilting of the quilt top. Maybe some feather wreaths in the white areas?
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Laura
That bag is cute!!!
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Benta At SLIKstitches
Gosh, I miss a few days and you've got hexies, and gifts and solids and so much lovely stuff, phew! I really like the 9 patches as they are,
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Teresa Connolly
I like the nine patches as they are like the red and white, love the bag, and love the bright colours of the hexagon!
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Rebecca Lynne
Janine! I've missed you… The red and white is stunning…very classic and yet the white has done all the work in this one. I am loving the bright block for Sana. It actually reminded me a bit of Life's Rich Pattern as I feel A is always using those bright bright colors. Maybe our next swap will be Blind Me Bright charm swap!
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Soma Acharya
I love all of them! I am also agreeing with the others about leaving the white as is. It looks really beautiful!
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Fabric Warrior (aka Amie)
I LOVE the bright blocks! So pretty. : )
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