Betsy Nine Patch Quilt

If you are signed up to my newsletter, you will already have the details of the informal sew along I am doing to make a Betsy print nine patch quilt. However, there have been so many requests for information about what the plan is, I thought I would share the details here too.

If you do decide to sew along with us (please do) I'm using the #betsyninepatchquilt to share my progress. In addition please note there is no sign up or Facebook group. It's just a group of people making a simple, beautiful quilt, with like-minded people around the world, at a time where connection and simplicity is craved.

Why Betsy?

My friend Vicki and I have been collecting Betsy tana lawn for a long time. It is arguably my favourite Liberty print, and over the years I have spent a lot of money procuring bespoke colour ways from Japan, America and the UK. There have been gorgeous bespoke colour ways made in Australia too. Vicki and I dream of creating a bespoke Betsy colour way ourselves. This is why we chose this print to feature in a quilt which will be unique (depending on our colour ways) but also a symbol of our friendship.

It is a gorgeous print, and due to the number of colour ways available it is perfect to feature in a quilt. In order to give some consistency to the quilt we wanted to alternate that with a plain fabric.  

Counter Point Fabric

We chose a 100% cotton Japanese fine chambray that has a lawn like weight. (It's worth noting here that I mix all the weights of fabrics in my quilt tops with absolutely no drama, so don't be concerned if you want to use a heavier weight counter point fabric.)

The chambray is a mid blue (but slightly gray) and will look lovely against both the lighter colour Betsys and those that are darker.

I got mine from a shop called The Drapery in Australia and I believe they will be getting more in shortly if you want to use the same fabric as me. 

Quilt Details

Vicki and I plan to use as many Betsy colour ways as we own, and there will be repeats as despite my best efforts I don't own 144 colour ways! I plan on making a single nine patch from each colour way and checking what colours I need to repeat once I can see what needs balancing.

You will need:

• Betsy tana lawn!
• 2.5 metres of your counter point fabric (chambray for me).

Finished Quilt size: 72" square

No. of nine patches: 144

Size of the squares in each nine patch: cut at 2 1/2" (2" finished)

Size of each nine patch: 6" square finished (6 1/2" including seam allowances)

Start Date: 1 March 2022

Finish Date 31 December 2022

Plan: Make 16 nine patches per month (about 4 per week) and construct the quilt top during December.

If you don't know how to make a nine patch I have included instructions below. They are super easy.

Note: You want your counter fabric to alternate with the Betsy print when the nine patches are stitched together. To do this you will need to make half of your nine patches with the Betsy print positioned as shown by the white squares in the diagram below. The other half of the nine patches will need the the Betsy print to be positioned in the grey squares in the diagram.

I hope to see you stitching along. Share with the #betsyninepatchquilt if you want to connect with others making this quilt.