Soduko 9-Patch Something or Other

Recently, I have not had nearly as much time for crafting as I would like. That said, I did manage to finish the second Origami Bag that I started at Jen's Patched Works' Party.

I chose the cupcake fabric because I thought it work well as a bag and a keepsake when I need a small container for a birthday gift. On the whole, I like it. I must say, though, there is something about the way this bag looks in Asian fabrics that makes it far more striking. Perhaps it was the way the fabric was laying, too. You can't even tell that there is a second fabric in my cupcake bag, but there is and it's super cute, too!

Yep, I definitely wish I could see more of the polka dots. Oh well.

The other thing I've found a small amount of time for is my Sudoku 9-Patch. What's that? Well, it all began with a trip to a quilt store when I was on retreat, last month. While shopping, I came across a kit for a Sudoku 9-Patch quilt. I was quite taken with the idea, but not so much with the price tag.  No problem, though, because Jen got the "brilliant" idea to coordinate a Sudoku swap with 9 of the women from our retreat. (This was also way cheaper than buying the kit, woo-hoo, I was in!)

The idea caught quickly and we headed to the fabric store the next day. Working together, we chose the 9 fabrics, divided them up, cut them down to 5" squares and swapped. Now, it's up to each of us to come with with something, using the Sudoku puzzle as the base layout.

I like things orderly, so laying mine out was fairly simple.

You can see that I kept the same fabric combinations, over and across, just shifting everything by one row per block. This alone looked pretty boring. Besides, I knew Jen was up to some crafting wickedness, which motivated me to do something more.

Originally, I thought I would cut each 9-patch into 81 pieces and make a miniature Sudoku board in each block. In fact, that was the plan until this morning when Jen shared a link to Dreamz Happen Quiltz. Just like that, I was off and running in a new direction.

I haven't gotten far, but I did get a start. I went from a block that looked similar to this:

to these beauties!

So far, I've only completed the first 9-Patch. I haven't sewn these together, yet, because I have a couple more ideas. First, I think it will look better if I mix and match all the pieces once I cut the other blocks. Second, I think I just might be able to reassemble a Sudoku, of sorts, depending on how I ultimately lay things out.  Either way, I think this is sure to be gorgeous once it's complete. I'm so glad Jen suggested the swap and shared the link today.

Jen has completed her projected and shared more information on the project. If you want to see what she came up with, be sure to stop by her blog. As I come across more of the completed projects, I'll pass them on so you can see the diverse results. I can't wait to see them all...and, of course, finish mine!