Beginning the D9P Project

I was good... I finished my nephew's quilt yesterday.   After such self-discipline, I rewarded myself by making a couple of nine-patches.

After sewing 5" fabric squares together, next comes the test of your 1/4" seams!   Measure between both of the two parallel seams, horizontal and vertical.  You should have a width of 4.5".   I am pleased to say that I did get that exact measurement...   I don't want to tell you how bad I was at 1/4" seams with my first disappearing nine-patch quilt.   I was able to fudge it when I pieced the blocks together but it was not fun.

Next, we are going to cut our nine-patches into four blocks, cutting along the dotted lines shown in this photo.

To do this, place your ruler with the 2 1/4" line on the left vertical seam.  Cut.  

Next, without moving the two cut pieces, place your ruler with the 2 1/4" line on the bottom horizontal seam.  Cut.

Now, you have four blocks!   Ta da!

 Next, we will make that nine-patch disappear by turning three of the blocks to this orientation.

Orienting your blocks this way will result in a quilt top that looks like this:

Photo from Jo's Country Junction

...or this:

If you prefer a different look, turn your blocks to this orientation.  I believe this is referred to as the "no seams match" arrangement...  none of the seams in the smaller blocks line up with any of the seams in the adjacent blocks.

And your quilt will look like this one:

Photo from Helen on Quilters Club of America 

And... just to prove I really did finish my nephew's quilt: