Colour by Instinct

Here we are in the season of hunkering down, of trying to eke out the limited hours of daylight each day until spring arrives once again. Most of us who live in the northern hemisphere find our own ways to deal with the shorter daylight hours. In my case, I gravitate towards bright colours. OK, those of your who know me will say “ She ALWAYS gravitates towards bright colours!”, which is true, but this proclivity seems more pronounced in the winter months.

For my current project, I dove head-first into my collection of  batiks. Who can resist the energy exuded by these colours and patterns?

I was fascinated by a concept called the “disappearing nine-patch”. There are numerous interpretations of it, and some were just awful (read: dog’s breakfast). So, up at the cottage, without the benefit of a computer as a resource, I made a few sketches with coloured pencils to figure out the best approach.

The process is easy! You start with a standard nine-patch block.

original nine-patch block (4.5" squares)

Instinct directed me to be consistent with the placement of my 2 colourways (always placing the orange blocks in the corners) and using only one contrasting fabric in the centre (dark purple). In a traditional nine-patch, you might gravitate towards more variety, but in this case, the consistency pays off later when you assemble the blocks and a pattern appears.

Once these are sewn together, you simply slice them in half, in both directions, then rearrange them before sewing back together.

nine-patch, sliced

cut blocks, rotated

I expect this will evolve into a lap quilt … tbd.

disappearing nine-patch block

In closing, I have to say that I’m feeling a bit smug, because I have already got a good head start on one of my new year’s resolutions and that is to concentrate on using more of my fabric stash before acquiring more!

Wish me luck!