Quilt Blog » Tuesday Tutor » Tuesday Tutor - Block Two - Nine-patch
Tuesday Tutor - Block Two - Nine-patch
Welcome back to our third lesson for Tuesday Tutor. Did you find the previous lessons?
Lesson One: Requirements >>
Lesson Two: Rail Fence Block >>
Jen is working along with us so be sure to see how she is coming along. This weeks block can be seen here >>
This weeks lesson is 9-patch.
9-patch blocks can be made a number of ways depending on the look you want. you can divide the squares into a certain color combination using light and dark or using various color combinations or you can create a scrappy block that is just a jumble of color.
If you are creating a basic two fabric 9-patch, it is very easy because you work in sets of strips. We all like easy right? The first set would be a-b-a and the second set would be b-a-b or using dark/light combination as dark-light-dark and light-dark-light. This is explained better by looking at the pictures below.
The sets are cut up to form the rows, then rows are joined. Blocks go together very easy and quickly.
We are going to do a similar thing for our block however we will be using three sets of fabrics instead of two. For our quilt we are going to require FOUR 9-patch blocks in total. Each row will be different but all blocks will be the same.
Cut the following 2 1/2" strips from your fabrics
ONE full width strip of fabrics 1, 4, 8 - cut in half to make TWO 1/2 width strips
ONE 1/2 width strip of fabrics 2, 6, 9
Join the strips in sets as shown:
1-2-1 Set 1: Sew fabric 2 strip between the TWO fabric 1 strips. Press the seams toward fabric 2
8-9-8 Set 2: Sew fabric 9 strip between the TWO fabric 8 strips. Press the seams toward fabric 8
4-6-4 Set 3: Sew fabric 6 strip between the TWO fabric 4 strips. Press the seams toward fabric 6
Why do we press the seams like this? You will see when we come to join the sections how the seams butt together when the seams are pressed in opposite directions. This makes the seams lock together and reduces the need for pins which in turn, speeds up the process.
Once your seams are pressed correctly, we are going to cut them all up. What? cut them up after we have already sewn them? Yes! This method speeds up our constructions. Often we can cut strips, join them, re-cut them to make up a design. This eliminates the need to sew small seams and tends to make the process more accurate. You can end up with various shaped pieces without having to cut them using templates. Okay, I admit, if I can avoid templates I do. <grin> It just makes piecing a whole lot easier and remember, piecing is not really my favorite part so I will always look for ways to hurry it along while keeping it accurate.
So, remember how we straighten up one end of our strip block? We are going to do that again and then cut our blocks. Cut FOUR 2 1/2" strips from each strip block. Then join the strips together with set 2 in the center.
This time press the seam between sets 1 & 2 towards set 1 and the seam between sets 2 & 3 towards set 2. We are aligning the seams up with next weeks blocks so you'll see how they butt together then.
That completes our nine-patch block and another weeks tutorial.
See you next week!
Here are some simple quilts using this weeks block.
Basic 9-patch quilt with blocks on point
9-patch & Rail Fence Block quilt sample
Click here for Rail Fence instructions >>
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