The humble Nine Patch, is so simple to construct, yet this workhorse can look very complicated.

Several years ago the Fauquier County Quilters had a Nine Patch Nine Ways retreat that was coordinated by Annie Morgan of the Quilting in Vermont page on Facebook and myself. It was a novel approach where we were going for a more themed retreat than we had experienced in the past. Many of us were “over” the mystery quilts yet wanted a little inspiration or structure to the retreat.

Decades have come and gone since that retreat, and so have many of the quilts that were made for samples. Although this one was not a sample, in recreating a Nine Patch Nine Ways trunk show it truly fits the bill.

The Blooming Nine Patch is truly easy to make. The fabrics were all pulled from my stash at the time, with the exception of the border. Believe me I had no idea of what my finished product would look like when I was pulling these beauties. It all goes together easily, and the  3 1/2″ nine patches are built using the fabrics from the surrounding squares.

The pattern I used was from Traditions With A Twist by Blanche Young and her daughter Darlene Young Stone, originally published in 1996.  The instructions are easy to follow. This quilt teased at my compulsive nature, as I wanted to see how it would change with every additional fabric.

Several moves and life changes put this quilt on the back burner. But after final construction and the magic of Terry Burris Quilting it has new life in a completed quilt. This one I would definitely do again, look how well it fits on the bed!

I do see another of these in my future…maybe batiks, maybe Kaffe.  You can see why I am so smitten with it!