Reader questions about 3" nine patch blocks and variations thereof

Thank you for all the lovely comments about my Cherry Blossom quilt! There were a some questions in the comments so I thought I would take a few minutes to respond. Before doing so I just want to clarify that my quilt and pattern will be in the Quilter's Connection  newsletter, not the magazine! You can subscribe to the free monthly newsletter; you will see a box on the sidebar where you can enter your email address. You can also subscribe to the magazine which features Canadian quilters and their quilts!

The first question came from Angie and she asked why I use a 6" flannel square to lay out my 1 1/2" scraps that I turn into nine patches; wouldn't a 4 1/2" square be better?

Good question and it made me smile and realize that what goes on in my brain is not immediately obvious to others! I had a pile of 6" squares of flannel that were left over from a foundation pieced pineapple log cabin quilt and I had a box that was about 6" square so the flannels fit in it nicely! There was no other reason. I can cut scraps, arrange them on the flannel and then put it in the box. When my pile of flannels beside the machine gets low I top it up with some flannels from the box!

Kath asked me how press seams when I make these small blocks. If I am making a traditional nine patch I generally press the seams to one side. I stitch each row and press toward the dark fabric. When I sew the top and bottom rows to the middle row I press toward the row with the most dark patches. In this example those seams would be pressed outward.

If I am making a nine patch variation I press a little differently. In this block I sewed two 1" strips together to make the pink and white squares.

To reduce bulk I pressed the seams open before I cut the 1 1/2" squares from the strip set.

Nothing goes to waste! When I mitered the corners on Cherry Blossom I had some scraps which I turned into another nine patch block. In the top of the picture you can see some squares with a pin through them. If I have four lights I'll pin them together because I can alternate them with five darks to make a nine patch!

If I am making a shoo-fly block with half square triangles in the corners I press the seam allowances open because it reduces the bulk at the corners.

I love the tiny churn dash blocks. They look great straight set but.....

I think they look even better set on point! I think it looks like a lantern!

If you would like to make your own 3" churn dash block I published a tutorial which you will find here. There's a secret weapon to making them perfect.....spray starch!

That's it for me today. We've got company coming so I had better get cracking! Until I post again, happy sewing.
Karen H

Excitement lives here!

I was contacted by the Editor and Publisher of Quilter's Connection, Canada's only magazine for quilters. In addition to the magazine there is a free monthly newsletter. Each month, they  feature a pattern, usually created by one of their staff members. However sometimes they like to feature a quilt designer or blogger that they have come across with interest. (insert drum roll here) Apparently they came across my blog and have requested permission to feature my pattern for Cherry Blossom! How exciting is that? Very exciting! I had been looking my quilt and 15 minutes later there was the email from Quilter's Connection! Such a coincidence!

Cherry Blossom by Karen H 2013

Free pattern available under Patterns by Karen H

I love this quilt - it is certainly one of my favourites.  All of the nine patches were made from scraps. I cut them up into 1 1/2" squares and arrange them on a 6" square of flannel. I keep a stack of these flannels beside my sewing machine and I use the nine patch pieces as leaders and enders when I am sewing. As I finish each block I give it a press and toss it in a box of other nine patches. I have literally hundreds of these nine patches and have made at least a dozen quilts with them! To make Cherry Blossom I dipped into my stash of 3" nine patches and pulled all the pink blocks. When there were no more pinks I pulled oranges, then golds and finally reds.

Close up of Cherry Blossom quilt

Here you can see the Zebra Girls and Zebra Fellow on the quilt. I did the quilting on my domestic sewing machine.

Another example of what I've done with the scrap nine patches is my Baskets and Nine Patches quilt which is a reproduction of an antique quilt that was in a Quilt Engagement Agenda from the 1980s. I didn't have to make a single nine patch block for this quilt - they were all taken from the box of completed scrap blocks! This is another quilt for which I've published a free pattern under the tab Patterns by Karen H.

Baskets and Nine Patches by Karen H 2013

This third quilt is also made from scrap nine patches. I call it Piccadilly to the Nines because there is a feature fabric in the quilt and it is called Piccadilly. The quilt is short one border in the first picture; you can see the final border in the second picture. There are loads of little churn dash blocks in this quilt and they are just a variation on the nine patch!

Piccadilly to the Nines by Karen H

This is a fourth quilt made with the scrap nine patch blocks. You will also see some little churn dash and shoo-fly blocks. The half square triangles (HST) were made with 2" squares. I hate to waste fabric so rather than trim larger blocks down to 1 1/2" for nine patches I used them to make the HSTs.  I also used leftover strips - two 1" strips sewn together yield a 1 1/2" strip from which I can cut 1 1/2" squares. There are all sorts of ways to arrange the pieced squares and HSTs. I had a post about them here.

To The Nines by Karen H

So there you have it - I'm not just about hexagons. I also love the humble nine patch! If you use your small scraps as leaders and enders you will soon have a good sized pile of blocks that will be ready to turn into something fabulous! The variety of fabrics will add depth and complexity to a quilt!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

Drafting a pattern for Lazy Punk and cutting fabric

Three things that affect how I approach quilt making:

• I like looking at quilt blocks and then try to figure out how they could be made;
• I don't like spending a lot of time carefully cutting fabric and
• I can be lazy about my quilt making which means I look for easy ways of going about making my quilts (lazy doesn't mean sloppy, just easy).

Today I'll talk about drafting patterns which for me means trying to figure out how to make a block. If you look closely you'll find that most blocks are based upon a grid of some sort, nine patch, four patch, five patch for example. Lines may be added or removed but in the end the grid is there as a foundation. As an example, take a look at the nine patch block which is made up of nine identical sized patches.

If the corner squares are replaced with half square triangles a new block appears, shoo-fly. However the foundation of the block is still the nine patch.

And if the squares at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions are replace with two strips the result is churn dash. Again the foundation was the nine patch.

When I look at the individual blocks in the Steam Punk quilt I see a nine patch block. The nine patch is three squares wide and three squares long. Each of the nine squares is the same size so the first step is to decide on the finished size of the block. The measure must be divisible by three since the block is 3 by 3. I decided on a 9: finished block so I drew a nine inch square on my graph paper and then added in the grid lines. If you don't have large graph paper try taping sheets together to give you the desired size.

 In the 3" square I placed my compass needle in the lower right corner (the pink dot) and drew an arc from the lower left to the upper right.

I took my ruler and drew a line from the lower left corner of the 3" square on the top left to the top of the 3" square on the lower right.

I then drew a line my ruler and drew a line from the upper right corner of the 3" square on the top left to the bottom of the 3" square on the lower right.

I place the point of my compass on the pink dot and drew a second arc that is approximately 3/4" in from the first arc. The actual measurement isn't important. I just chose a width that was visually pleasing to me.

This is the completed arc and it doesn't look right.

This time I placed the point of my compass in the middle of the nine patch block and drew the arc.

Here you can see the difference between the upper left and lower right arcs. The lower right is much better. So with my trusty eraser I removed the arcs on the upper right and replaced them with the new arcs with the point of the compass in the centre of the centre square.

I checked out several household items until I came across something that was just the right size for the circle in the centre of the block. I traced around the edge of the blue cap.

 And here is the Lazy Punk block.

Now that I've drafted the pattern I need to make templates. Keep in mind that I DO NOT enjoy cutting fabrics that have to be cut precisely so I look for methods that allow me to cut fabric quickly and easily. Tomorrow I'll show you how I make my own tools to facilitate cutting fabric quickly easily and with no stress. And then the follow up will be preparing for applique by machine or hand. You'll be surprised at how stress free this complicated block is to construct with my lazy girl methods! So why not pull out your graft paper and draft your own block pattern. Tomorrow you'll need a little bit of cardboard (cereal boxes are fine), some clear plastic (I save the plastic covers of presentations for template material) and a permanent marker like a Sharpie.

 

Until I post again, happy drafting!

Picadilly to the Nines quilt top is complete.....or is it?

I spent the day putting sewing the nine patch hourglass blocks together for the border of Picadilly to the Nines. The hourglass blocks are sewn into nine patches and the 2" hourglasses are supposed to be alternated so that that the nine patch looks like this.

The first hourglass is on it's side and then in the next standing up and so on. I was making the nine patches and I was in the zone. I got them all done! I started sewing the blocks together I ran into problems The weren't all fitting together so that the alternating pattern in the nine patch wasn't correct.

The bottom row in the picture above is wrong so I had to do quite a bit of "reverse" sewing. Actually I had messed up on quite a few blocks so there was actually a lot of reverse sewing! Darn!!!! But I did get it all done and the borders were made and I've now attached them to the quilt.

I took the quilt out to the garden to take pictures. I spread it on the bench and look who showed up! What is it with cats and quilts? He was keen to jump up on it but he is just going to have to wait until it is quilted!

And here is the finished quilt top!

I was thinking that the hourglass border would be the final border but am having second thoughts! I still have more green striped fabric left so I placed it next to the outside edge to get an idea about how it would look and I think perhaps I will repeat the inner striped border on the outside. Now that would be a fine finish!

And as I look at this picture I realize there is still a problem with the direction of the hourglass blocks and I just figured it out! In order for the blocks to be able to alternate all around the quilt I needed an odd number of hourglass blocks and my quilt was based on an even number!!! Darn! Oh well - I think I can live with it!

I didn't use my sneaky mitred corner method for mitring the stripes. I stitch the borders to the quilt as usual. As you can see ends are loose.

I turn the top so that the wrong side of the border is down and the quilt is facing up.

I pull the edges together so the corner comes to a point and I pin.

I line up the ends of the borders and pin them as well.

I stitch from the stitching at the top edge out to the corner. It is only two inches so I just eyeball it but if you are more comfortable you could make a line from the stitch at the upper left to the corner and the lower right.

And this is what it looks like when opened up!

Once it is pressed it will be perfect!

I overheard Jack and Bunny in the garden this afternoon. She was talking about a huge carrot that a friend dug up in the neighbour's garden. It was huge! "It was this big - I've never seen anything like it before!" said Bunny. Jack found it difficult to believe. He knew that Bunny was prone to exaggeration! And he also knew that her eyesight wasn't that great either! He just nodded and smiled!

Having recently been chased up a tree by Teetoo the Grey Panther the rabbits are skittish! They heard movement in the garden froze! "Whose there?" said Jack. There was no reply. "I've got sharp pointy teeth and I'm not afraid to use them!" he shouted!

You won't believe who was snooping in the garden! Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Until I post again, happy sewing!

Hourglass Blocks

This is the centre panel of Picadilly to the Nines. At this point it measures 55" with the seam allowances.

I've used a variety of nine patch blocks including the tiny churn dashes and they are all set on point; I think it adds some visual interest and it makes the blocks look a little different. The two pictures below are of the same churn dash  block but the first one is set on point and the second is straight. Don't you agree that they look different?

 

I alternated the various nine patch blocks with 3" hourglass blocks. I used two fabrics for the hourglass blocks, the off white background and a mottled taupe fabric.

Hourglass blocks make a great alternate block in a quilt, they are fun and easy to make and they can be made any size you choose. There is a simple formula to determine the size of patches to cut to make the hourglass block. To calculate the size of patches simply add 1 1/4" to the finished size of the block. I needed hourglass blocks that are the same size as the nine patches which finished at 3" so to that measurement I added 1 1/4" for a measurement of 4 1/4" square. I needed two fabrics, one light and one darker. Each pair of patches yields two hourglass blocks!

On wrong side of the lighter of the two fabrics I drew a line from one corner to the opposite corner. I like to use a mechanical pencil because it gives a thin sharp line. With right sides together I pinned the fabrics together making sure the corners lined up. I shorten the stitch length and stitched a scant 1/4" away from either side of the pencil line. If you have trouble with a scant 1/4" seam allowance, if your machine allows you to shift your needle position to the right simple shift the needle a little bit and that way you can sew with your 1/4" foot.

The next step was to cut on the opposite diagonal from the one that was just stitched.

Next cut on the pencil line with a rotary cutter or sharp scissors. Press to embed the seam and then press the seam allowances open. As always a little starch works wonders, especially on small blocks! This is what you will have at this point.

Lay out the triangles to create two blocks. Pin and stitch using a scant 1/4" seam allowance.

Place your ruler on one of the blocks and line up the 45 degree mark on the ruler with one of the diagonal seams. Trim to 2 1/2" and clip the remaining tails or wings.

Press and you are done! Could they be any easier? I think not!

I think I will add a 1 1/2" border of the background fabric all around the centre panel of Picadilly to the Nines and then I'll add a border of many tiny hourglass blocks. How tiny? They will be 2" finished and they will be made of assorted greens. I calculated that I will need 384 blocks so I'll need 384 3 1/4" patches. The design seemed like a good idea at the time and so I started cutting fabrics. 384 is a lot!!!!  And then the light dawned on the primitive brain....this is going to involve a lot of sewing and pressing! But the fabric is cut so I will persevere! Here's a stack of them pieced and ready for pressing!

 

And another pile of pressed blocks waiting to be trimmed!

Until I post again, happy sewing!