I made this quilt as a graduation gift for my sister this past spring. I picked out all of the fabrics when I was still somewhat new to sewing, and I didn’t have much knowledge about fabric designers, fabric lines, and where to buy fabric. I just picked up what I liked as I went along, and came up with a large stack of fabrics that were heavy on the greens and blues, but still had some bright, modern elements.
I decided to use the deconstructed 9-patch method for the quilt, because I wanted to try something new, and the idea of sewing together all these squares and then cutting them up seemed so fun. When I went to lay out the quilt originally, I was going to sew all the cut up squares together, but the pattern seemed so busy to me. So instead, I started laying out the squares on a piece of white fabric to see how it would look with some crisp sashing, and it went from something I felt mediocre about to something that I loved.
I find that sometimes, making construction decisions as I go works really well for me. It wasn’t until I could actually lay the deconstructed squares out that I knew how to finish the quilt top.
I backed the quilt using a large piece of Heather Bailey’s nicey jane fabric (in pocketbook), and a strip of the fabrics from the front. I love tying some of the fabric from the quilt top into the back of the quilt.
I then gifted this quilt before I took any pictures of it, but my sister was nice enough to bring it along when we all got together for Thanksgiving. She also took some photos of it in it’s new home.
Greenleaf Goods 
Popped over to your blog from Flickr and have to leave a comment about how great this quilt is and love that you adapted as you went along!
[…] After these projects, I felt confident enough to move into some larger quilt projects. I made quilts for both of my sisters for graduation gifts this spring. My younger sister graduated from high school, and my older sister earned her Ph.D. I realized as I was writing about this I have not yet blogged about my younger sister’s quilt, so that will be forthcoming! My older sister’s quilt was my first try at a deconstructed 9-patch quilt. […]
Thank you for posting this. I just stumbled upon this post and you have planted in my thoughts the seed of an idea.
My first quilt was a nine patch and I have sewn it all together and didn’t like the way it looks since I had used too many busy fabrics. I might just have the courage to unpick the quilt top and try a deconstructed disappearing nine patch like you did.
Hi Diane,
I’m glad my post may have helped you out! When I first laid out this quilt, I didn’t plan to use sashing, but it was just too busy for me– my eyes didn’t have a place to rest, and all the prints ran right into each other. Adding the sashing helped a ton, and I’m glad I did it! Good luck with your quilts!
I have considered making this style quilt many times, but until I saw your version, I knew, for sure, I would! And soon!
What is the finished size? sort of, about???
Thanks!
Hi! I think this quilt was a lot of fun to make, so I’d definitely recommend making one yourself. I don’t have the exact measurements of the quilt (and since I made it as a gift, I no longer have it to measure) but I’d guess that it was about 60 inches wide and 72 inches long. It’s just big enough to go on a bed. Hope this helps– happy sewing!
[…] deciding on a pattern, my sister suggested the disappearing 9-patch. I previously made her a quilt using this technique, and I’m glad she suggested it for this project– it worked well with the fabric! Good […]