This is the top of my Nest quilt before borders, draped over my ironing board. I laid out the blocks five times (hated it; hated it; "needed" more blocks with more fabrics; cat disrupted it; I snarled up the order hopelessly during chain-piecing). I don't know that I'm ecstatic about the layout even now, but I do know I'm tired of monkeying with it.
The disappearing nine-patch is a strange beast. I kept running into the four-color map problem as I laid the blocks out. There was always something touching something else that it shouldn't. I suppose there are ways to engineer the placement of fabrics during construction of the nine-patches that will make the problem easier to avoid while still allowing a pleasing feeling of spontaneity, but I don't know it. It hurts my planner's heart to look at parts of it.
But with its colors and birds and surprises here and there, it also makes me really, really happy.
