BIG finish with small pieces

 I am so excited to get this quilt DONE.   For the past year, I have been merrily sewing all these pieces to make my 9 patch WONDER!  It has been fun to have it on the side, idly making little 3 inch 9 patch blocks. Then I would assemble the bigger 9 patch blocks, followed by sashing  one row at a time. Sometimes it was just the best project to not have to think about as you assembled groups of 9 patches. 

 I want to thank Gretchen Weaver for her inspiring quilt which spurred me on.  Here is her quilt.  The original pattern was in American Patchwork and Quilting which I did find in my stacks of magazines. 

( Notice the photo is taken outside! Yeah to warm weather.)

And for this beauty, I only had to purchase the blue solid fabric, the red border fabric and the backing fabric. All the little pieces were from my stash cut from the variety of colors; I used as much as I could from my scrap container. But alas, they seem to have multiplied again.  And even though I used up a wealth of backgrounds, I still have many pieces left. 

History of the quilt began here. Followed by additions: here and here and here.   Piecing the borders were here.   If you are so inclined to see the enlargement a bit at a time. 

Here you can see the beautiful red print on the back and the quilt design.

And here you can see the setting better as well as the paper pieced borders.

The quilt is 7 blocks in each of 7 rows. Plus it has sashing with one 9 patch block in the middle of each. 

Total size of 96 inches square !