I've started collecting fabric for a quilt that will communicate cherry blossom season here in the Washington DC area -- pinks, off-white, pale ("spring") greens, moving into deep roses and rich olive greens, and possibly into darker magenta and deep forest greens.

I've been debating between a blooming nine patch and a one-block wonder design.

I'm feeling more drawn to the blooming nine patch-- I LOVE the transitions, BUT I prefer the more abstract layout of the OBW.

Which got me wondering (and I've already done some googling on this without success): Has anyone done a variation of the blooming nine patch that does not result in a square or rectangular format?

Thanks!

-- Jillaine

The blooming 9 patch may give you more control of your fabrics placemet...

My thought is to make the 9 patch block, and then cut it to the desired shape, like a half hexagon maybe? :D:D:D

I'm okay about working with standard 9-patch squares; I'm just wondering about laying them out differently than the "traditional" blooming nine patch. The traditional layout is a square or rectangle "blooming" from the center. I'm thinking about something not so square. You know how OBW's can "bloom" from anywhere? Like that. I think. ;-)

or use some random HSTs here an there.
.............
"The blooming 9 patch may give you more control of your fabrics placemet...

My thought is to make the 9 patch block, and then cut it to the desired shape, like a half hexagon maybe?"

It would probably be easiest to make it "bloom" from top to bottom or one corner out but I don't see why you can't change it around. You may have to make each block individually to fit a specific spot instead of making X number of each color combo.

Oy.

Definitely doable. But you'd have to map it out to figure out how many squares of each fabric you'd need.

Since the design most commonly blooms from the center - whether it's a rectangle or a square - it's really easily figure out the amount of each combo you need. I actually made a chart for all the permutations.
I've altered the pattern many times - more fabrics, less fabrics, increased the center portion to elongate it without adding another fabric but increase the size.

But if you decide to start the bloom in, say the upper right corner, will the next bands be wider?
- iow, would you double up?
-would you add a 5 more fabrics to reach the other side?
-would you bloom from the bottom left and have them merge in -the center? (actually - that would be pretty cool.)

If you just take a blank piece of paper and sketch out the abstact shape you want to create. Then it's easy then to figure it out the fabric quantities, and 9 patch combos.

Otherwise, you're making a ton of 9Patches you might not need, or you'll be short of some fabric because you need more.

Very interesting project.

MTS,

(I knew you'd show up... ;-)

What do you mean by having them merge in the center?

Yes, I'm thinking of a bloom from one of the corners (or near corners; don't want to be too symmetrical).

I initially thought of OBW for this, but frankly, I haven't found the right fabric that will give me the variation I want *in the colors I want* -- some of you may recall my ISO for this very thing. (Or if I did find something that might work, it was too outrageously expensive.) The B9P approach allows me to work with more fabric choices.

Is there any reason you couldn't go on and do the OBW only using an array of fabrics to get your desired color gradation?

My thought exactly. Make hexes from each of the fabrics, as long as the fabrics share some of the same colors, you should be able to lay them out to blend.