Belle's Ginkgo 9-patch

Belle is a meticulous quilt piecer. She takes the time to carefully plan, measure, and sketch her quilts. Belle is very organized and that orderly precision comes through in her piecing. It is always a pleasure quilting for her. Belle and I attended a class this past summer called the Scalloped Edge. I volunteered to do the quilting for the class since it was a 2-parter and we had to have the center quilted before the second class. So I know her work. First, she buys quality fabric. She sews 1/4 inch seams. She trims threads off and presses all her work. I was in the quilt shop and saw her putting together a quilt with beautiful floral fabric and 9-patches with Ginkgo Biloba leaves. I think that Ginkgo leaves are like art. The perfect fan shape with accented veins and cut-aways. This was going to be a pretty quilt. So I was very pleased when I got the call that she wanted me to quilt it.

I just got the Circle Lord and bought the Ginkgo template which has the leaf shape in 2 or 3 sizes. You can be sure that I will put some of that in Belle's quilt.

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Update 15 Oct 2006




Belle wanted Warm & Natural; I used Warm & white. I used Tea Rose Perma-Core TEX 40 thread from American & Efird, the same folks that make Signature thread. I had tried Signature Victoria Rose but with the thin Warm and Natural, the Signature was too heavy and it was hard to make a good stitch. My friend Christi helped me frog the Signature thread out. I switched to the Perma-Core; it was the first time I had ever used it. Easy to handle and lays nicely on the fabric. Plus a perfect match to the back fabric and looked great on the front, too.

My original plan was to use Ginkgo leaves in the 9-patches but it did not work out. So I put those ginkgo leaves in the patch border alternating with a simple loop. The body of the quilt was pretty busy so I tried the new panto named Oma's Garden by Sew-Phie Quilts. It's a bit complex but looks good on the quilt. I hope she likes it.