Scrappy Nines - Finally!

A few weeks ago, Pat Wys and Nancy Mahoney were the keynote speakers/teachers at our bi-annual TVQA Spring Seminar.  The first night, Pat sat right next to me at our table, and I was totally starstruck!!!

I've been following Pat's blog, Silver Thimble Talk, for years, and when she released her book Spotlight on Neutrals - Quilts and More for Any Decor in 2011, I had to have it!

I know - you all think I only care about playing with those bright, bold colors, right?  Well, yes, that's true usually.  But the visual impact of Scrappy Nines, the cover quilt on this book, sucked me right in - I just love that intense contrast in design.  I bought it almost before it came off the presses!

Yep, a first edition :)

Pat told us in class that this book sold out of the first publication almost immediately and went into the second printing quickly.  The first edition can be identified by a typo on page 23 - squares that are supposed to be cut 7-1/4" are given as 5-1/4" - yikes!  That's a BIG difference!!!

So a word to the wise .... if you have this book,

go check it now to be sure you have the right measurements in there :*)

This is one of those projects that I fell in love with and couldn't wait to start .... and then I never started it.  Four. Years. Ago.  Ever happen to you?  Yeh, I thought I was the only one. *wink*  It actually took Pat coming to teach classes for me to get fired up and start pulling it together.

I do remember that one of the problems I had with starting was that I had decided to use only recycled men's shirts.  I actually have quite a few shirts that I've picked up at thrift stores and Goodwill already stashed for quilts, but it took a while to gather enough to have a good variety of neutral fabrics. This is one box of recycled shirts that I have disassembled and stored, ready for use....

.... there are a few recycled dresses in there as well :)  A few of these shirts made it into my version of Scrappy Nines.

Neatly cut up into squares and rectangles.  And before you begin to think, "well, how cool is that?", I just want to let you know that this took FOREVER!!!!

Cutting precise pieces out of such irregular sections of fabric was difficult and time consuming...

I was constantly trying to maneuver to make sure I made the best use of whatever size section I had to work with.  Some shirts were Xtra Lge, long-sleeved and provided plenty of fabric, but others were smaller or short-sleeved, so I had to really work to get all the pieces needed out of them.

First I had to cut strips from each shirt for making the nine-patches - I used my Sizzix cutting  machine for the strips and that part went very quickly.  Here they are all bagged up and ready for class ....

I need 168 nine-patches for the quilt - 

It's a start, right?

Actually, I now have 120 of them made :*)  I went on a retreat the week after class and spent two days sewing strips together, cutting them into little tiny sections, and then sewing them back together into adorable little nine-patches!  It's a tough job, you know, but someone's got to do it.....

So, here are the two blocks I managed to get done in class ....

Don't you just love this???

By the way, I did try to keep lines straight but sometimes it was just impossible.

And here is how they look together ....

Now that I've finally started on this quilt, I'm determined to work on it until it is done!  I set up a work station in my studio totally dedicated to Scrappy Nines alone, and I can sit down to sew on it for a few stolen minutes here and there, or for an entire afternoon - whatever I have available each day.  Hopefully, I'll have a finished top to show you before too much longer :*)

I'm linking up with Sharon over at Vrooman's Quilts this month for Let's Book It! - so happy to finally have the opportunity to join up in this fun linky party!!!  And interestingly enough, Sharon pulled the same book from her shelf to work on this month.... they say great minds think alike, don't they?

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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