Thursday, October 18, 2012

"Urban Nine Patch" Quilting Wrap-Up!

I wanted to say a big thanks to all the comments, input and suggestions on my post "Quilting Thoughts"!  You have no idea how much they help me in making a decision and also giving me great ideas that maybe I hadn't thought of before....so after reading over the comments I came up with this idea. 

After I complete a quilt, I'm going to do a "Quilting Wrap-Up" post on that quilt.  Along with pictures of the finished quilt, I will also share any quilting tips, thoughts, ideas....that I may have done on that quilt.  Over a long stretch of time I hope to cover many aspects of the quilting process, including any tips for the quilter sending their quilts out to longarm quilters as to what kind of things make it easier for us when quilting on customers quilts.

Today I wanted to share with you my "Urban Nine Patch" quilt and the tools I used to quilt this up along with my quilting design idea.



I've personally never seen a quilt done up in these colors.  Tangerine orange, cactus green and black and white.  I really wanted to capture a contemporary look using these colors for a quilt and really love how it turned out!


When it came to how I was going to quilt it up, I knew I wanted to keep with a contemporary look and keeping the quilting more on the modern side would help with that....so of course some straight lines and circles were an easy choice.

With the straight lines I wanted to showcase the secondary design in this quilt, because of the fabrics and placement of the fabrics I sort of lost that secondary design.  I think the straight lines helped showcase it.  I love circles, I think you can put a circle on just about any quilt and it gives character and gives your eye something to look at.  In this quilt, by putting a circle swirl in the centers helped your eye focus also on that secondary design.

Now for the actual Nine Patch's.  I really wanted them to pop, so I accentuated the curve by first stitching in the ditch and then adding two echo curves next to the outside curve 1/4" apart.  By doing that it really gave the Nine Patch the "punch" it needed to stand out.  Again I added a circle in the center for character and a fun filler for the remaining area's.  For the center square....just a stitch in the ditch and one echo to accentuate the square is all it needed.


The backing fabric, I picked up at JoAnn's...Awesome and I always piece my two fabric pieces or more together with a coordination print or color that matches the front of the quilt.

This 7" x 2" ruler by "The Gadget Girls" is my absolute favorite ruler!  I use it ALL THE TIME!!  It has marking lines so you can use them as a guide when doing parallel straight lines.  That's how I did the straight lines for this quilt.  I also use this ruler for stitching in the ditch on most all quilts.  Another little tip I've found for quilting straight lines is the faster I go, the smoother and easier it is.

When doing my circle swirl, I first used this 2 1/4" circle to stitch the circle and then I started in the center of the circle and did a freehand swirl out to the stitched circle.  I have a set of these blue acrylic circles in different sizes and love them.  They have markings so you can center the circle on the fabric, as you can see I've centered the marks on my pieced fabric.  I found these at "Linda's Electric Quilters".

I used the same circle for the centers of the Nine Patch.  It just so happen to be the perfect size.  These were fun, I stitched around the circle and started with my filler for the outside in one corner, ending in the same corner, then stitched in the ditch around the center square.

Now for the curved acrylic template I used.  If you look close you can see it.  It's clear.  I used this for stitching in the ditch around the Nine Patch block and also for the two echo lines.  I have a set of these curved acrylic rulers and use them a lot.  I used the 15" one for most of my curves in my quilts.  They are called "Renae's Amazing Rays"


I like the binding I chose.  I didn't want to go to bold in fear of taking away from the quilt....and the lighting was beautiful outside this morning.  This is my favorite picture of the quilt! 

~Jenny~ 

30 comments:

Melia Mae Quilting said...

I love love love this quilt and the quilting you did on it. Again love it! I will need to pick myself up some of them rulers. I still need to get a table extension first though so I can use rulers, but I think all the straight lines really do add a more "modern touch".

Judi said...

Beautiful! You are so awesome Jenny!

Teresa Silva said...

Wow, Jenny!!!! Amazing again. I still need to quilt mine up. I'm so scared because I want it to look as fabulous as yours do!

MariQuilts said...

Beautiful!!

Anonymous said...

it looks amazing! you did a wonderful job.

Petit Design Co. said...

thanks for sharing all of your tools. I love finding new tools to make the job easier. I really appreciate you sharing your tips and tricks.

JustPam said...

Thanks for sharing your techniques and tools on this wonderful quilt. You have done a fabulous job! How long does it take you to do a quilt like this? I don't know that I would have the patience.

CitricSugar said...

This is gorgeous! I just finished catching up on your blog (I was offline for a couple months - nothing big, just busy) and I missed a LOT. Beautiful work as always, but Urban Holiday blew me away! Incredible.

Elle said...

I really love this design...especially because of how you quilted it! The secondary design is just spectacular - a major wow quilt! Congratulations!

Trudi said...

I missed the post! How,did,that happen? But I love this quilt, and am especially appreciative of,all your tips and tools and the process you went through. Makes it so much more real. Thank you for sharing so much :)

Judiquilts said...

Jenny thanks for sharing the process. Can't wait for your Christmas pattern to come out!

Janet O. said...

I really appreciate seeing how you did the quilting. So helpful to those of us who are at novice status. : )

Vicki in MN said...

That quilt is just sweet, sweet, sweet! And thankyou for sharing how you did everything.

marthaeliza said...

Very cool! Seeing some of your tools and how you use them makes your quilt even more impressive! Do you have to mark your parallel lines to get them so even?

Jen said...

Thanks for explaining your techniques. I love your quilting.

Sandy Panagos said...

Wow, that quilt is absolutely gorgeous!

Nicci P said...

Loving the colors, pattern and quilting here. I also liked how you showed a more subtle bindking works so well here. I usually am inclined to "frame" my quilt with bolder fabric but this illustrates beautifully that I might be wise to think differently at times. Thx!

Megan said...

What a great quilt! I appreciate you sharing your tips and tricks. It's encouraging to hear that all those straight lines were easier when you stitched faster. Great job!!

Aunt 'Reen said...

What a gorgeous finish to this amazing quilt! LOVE it!

Abby said...

LOVE this quilt. Thank you so much for the great tips on how you get this look! You make it seem easy, even though I'm sure this quilt took you forever!

Borderline Quilter said...

Fabulous Jenny, it has echoes of the quilt I've just done but they look nothing alike really.

Love yours, the fabrics, colours and the quilting!

Nita said...

I am breathless! I love everything about this quilt. I love the colours. I love the pattern. I love the quilting. Wow!

kitty said...

This quilt is perfection every way! Thank you for sharing your tips and tools and your ideas about the choice of quilting motifs!

Litamora's Quilt & Design said...

Thank you so much for sharing with us! You're so awesome! LOVE this quilt, and hope to get to make a great quilt with your ruler. The quilting you did is just stunning!
How long did it take to finish this beauty? Do you quilt in the ditch to lock some of the blocks before you start the custom quilting?

Mama Pea said...

I have always loved the colors in this quilt, and I adore the quilting. I love learning about the process, too. Thank you! Can't wait to get time to send you my quilt!

Deb said...

Jenny - I love this quilt and the quilting you did on it just makes it sing. I can't wait to get my quilt to you to be quilted.

I love reading about your process of quilting a quilt. One thing I always want to know and most quilters don't mention is how much time does it take to quilt each quilt. It would be great if you would give us that nformation along with all the tips you provide.

Many thanks.

Deb S.

Anonymous said...

Oh Wow!

Thearica said...

I am sew glad that I found your blog via Piece N Quilt! Your quilting is fantastic and is just the thing to give me that swift kick in the backside to get busy at my machine again!

Rebecca Grace said...

I just stumbled across your blog and I'm captivated. Your work is SO BEAUTIFUL!! Can you please clarify how you're using the rulers and circle templates in your quilting? Do you use them to mark your quilt prior to quilting, or are you actually using them as a guide against the presser foot? If so, how do you keep the acrylic templates from sliding around while you're quilting around them? And lastly, do you quilt on a longarm or on a domestic sewing machine? Thanks for sharing your photos and your process!

tealeafquilts said...

This is a beautiful quilt and I have a question. Did you quilt this on your sewing machine or on a long arm? I have the ruler and have started an urban nine patch and want to quilt it just as you did.