Needlework Tuesday - Reworking a quilt design

As I was putting away the quilts and quilt tops that I used for my presentation last week, I realized that if I were to put these 9 patch blocks away, they would probably stay hidden for another ten years.  Why not keep them out and work on the quilt.  Exactly what I am doing,  Lots of progress in this past week.

 Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

 I have grown as a quilter since I started making and trading for these 9 patch blocks at the turn of the millennium. While it was a good block for me at that time, I am now interested in making such a quilt at this time.  I want to play with them instead and try a disappearing 9 patch technique.  Most of the blocks do not measure what they should (9 1/2 inches), so I had to fudge a bit when it came to re-cutting them.  First i laid them on the cutting mat lining up where the seams should lie.  Cut 1 1/2 inch  from the middle panel along the left and right.  Then move them out of the way and do the same for the top and bottom.

 Substitute in the centre from another block and sew them all back together.  There are some little ends to trim off.

A lovely new block.  I have trimmed this to 8 1/2 inches.  I'll need 49 for the design I am planning.   Last week, Roslyn linked up and showed a quilt using the same block technique but with a different layout.

25 blocks tentatively laid out for the centre panel.

Not to leave all the fun to one craft, I'm also knitting a Christmas stocking for a friend who will be visiting for the duration of the holidays. The stocking itself is simple and then I will duplicate stitch some snowflakes using a fluffy yarn.  note that the colour really is more of a teal than the blue shown here.  Natural lighting and flash together do weird things to colour.

Are you one of these people who will be stitching at Christmas gifts right up till midnight on the 24th?  Me, I'll be done by 5pm as Santa makes his rounds of my town at that time with the help of the local volunteer fire fighters. This is something I have enjoyed for the past seventeen years.  What a pleasure to see the township pull together to bring such joy to the families who live here.  I hope that you enjoy my short video that I made a few years ago.  It's rather dark by that time, fortunately Santa's ride is decorated.




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