Jane's January Tutorial

Here is the humble, yet versatile nine-patch quilt block.  It is amazing.  All you need to make one is nine squares of fabric, then sew them together.  Besides this basic block, I will be showing you how easy it is to make other nine-patch blocks, just by adding in some half-square triangles.  

This first one is called the Shoo Fly, then the Friendship Star, and finally, the Musket Ball.

I am going to start by showing you the easiest way to make a bunch of the basic nine-patch blocks.  Then we will move on to making half-square triangles.

Choose fabrics that have contrast; either a light and a dark, or a light and a bright.  Sew one strip set with the light fabric in the middle, with the dark fabrics on the outside.  Sew the second strip set with the dark strip in the middle and the light strips on the outside.  Sew all seams with 1/4 inch seam allowances.  Press seams toward the dark fabric.

Sub-cut your strips, the same width as your squares, into as many sections as you can get out of the strips sets you made.

They should look like this.

Sew your sections together as indicated in the photo, above. Remember to use a quarter inch seam allowance.  Then refer to the pressing diagram, further down in the tutorial, before pressing them.  When pressing the basic nine-patch block, if you press all the lighter blocks (the ones on the right) seams inward, and the darker blocks (the ones on the left, above) seams outward, when you sew them to one another the seams will match up for perfect corners.

How to make half-square triangles:

• Cut some light and dark squares, one-half inch larger than the size of the squares you are using in your blocks.  There will be a seam allowance crossing diagonally through the center of each of the half-square triangle blocks.  This seam allowance will take in that extra half inch.
• follow these steps while referencing the diagram, below.
• Place a dark and a light square right-sides together (back of fabric facing out).
• Use a ruler to draw a line diagonally across from corner to corner.  A Sharpie marker works well.
• Line up the line with the center line on your sewing machine foot and move the needle 1/4 inch to the right of the line.  (do not sew on the line, or you will have to utilize Mr. Seam Ripper)
• Sew a seam parallel to the line, then swing your fabric around and do it again, but down the other side.  You should have a seam on both sides of the center line.
• Cut down the center line, using scissors or a rotary cutter.  It this is your first time, I suggest scissors.
• Repeat with all your dark and light squares.  You will get two half-square triangles out of each set.

You can feed one square after another into your sewing machine, then when you get to the last one, swing them all around and sew down the other sides.  They are all strung together when you finish.  Snip them apart and then cut them all on the center lines, as directed above.  This is a fun and quick way to make a lot of half-square triangles.

Here is my seam pressing guide.  I do not hold with the idea that all seams should be pressed to the dark side.  I believe in pressing in the direction of least resistance.  For example, on the Friendship Star, above, the arrows show pressing toward the pieces that have no seams in them.  If you press toward the pieces with seams, then the edge in the seam allowance is TWICE AS THICK.  You want to keep thickness to a minimum, so avoid pressing your intersecting seams back onto themselves.  

Notice how, if you follow the pressing guide, above, your seams will nestle and not be thick.  Pin the intersections of the seams before sewing, to keep them in place.  If your center block is a little poofy on the top side, you can pin it in the center, between the other two pins, to avoid puckering. This is called easing it in.  Sew your blocks together!  *Note: when pressing seams on the basic nine-patch block, there are no intersecting seams so you can press in either direction, so you may as well press to the predominately dark side.

Now is the fun part.  Play around with the arrangement of blocks and decide how you like them.  You can make more lights or more darks, or you may want it less checker-boardy.  I feel I need more of the Friendship Stars and a reverse of the Musket Ball (light colored Musket Balls).

You may want to cut a strip of sashing and see how adding sashing may make your quilt top look.  You may want to audition a few different colors or shades, before deciding on sashing.  The nice thing about adding sashing is you don't have to worry about the seams in the blocks jiving up, since they will not be sewn directly to each other.  

This layout is known as on-point.  It is not as tricky as it looks, just look at it sideways.  Cut some solid pieces of fabric for the four squares in the center, just make them the same size as the rest of your squares.  For the triangles around the outside, cut squares a half inch bigger than all your other squares, and cut them in half, diagonally.  There is more about this on my January 31, 2019 post, Session 3, where I taught how to make Sixteen Patch Quilts.  Hmmm . . . am I going in reverse?

Or the beginning of a fun and magical Nine-patch quilt!

What's on the Design Wall in January?

Edna has been visiting us since Thanksgiving.   She really enjoyed all the medallion quilts, so she decided to start another one.  She used some cute monster fabric for the center and has been building it outward.  

She is using the "liberated" piecing style.  She made it deliberately wonky.  It gives the quilt a lot more interest and character.  I can hardly wait to see it when it is finished.  She promised to send us more photos.  Edna is leaving us tomorrow, to return to Sacramento.  We have very much enjoyed her visit.