Scrappy Disappearing Nine Patch: Tutorial

There was a request that I share how I made my scrappy quilt, so I gathered up some pictures and here it is! This is my first tutorial, so bear with me please.

Step 1: Cut out many squares. I used 2.5" squares of assorted fabrics. You could definitely use whatever size you want as long as they are consistent. I used approximately 2,016 squares.



Step 2: Assemble into nine patches. I made 224 nine patch units. I wanted there to be some consistency so I used a black background patch for the center of all the units. I started off making nine patches like in the picture above and then I just started piecing them together however they fell in order to save time.


Once you have your nine patch blocks ready it is time to square them up. When you use 2.5" blocks, the finished nine patch should be 6.5" square.


Step 3: Cut the block in half vertically and horizontally. Cut 3 1/4 inches from the top and from the side.

You will end up with small blocks like the ones above which should be 3 1/4" square. I just kept cutting these up until I had piles of them.

Step 4: They are then assembled into a new disappearing nine patch unit. I used this arrangement, but you can play with it to make it how you would like. Just remember to be consistent throughout or you will spend time ripping out seams. I know this from experience!

I enventually had 224 units like the ones above.
Step 5: Piece these together to form strips.

Be very careful that you are piecing these together in the same manner. This picture shows the correct way for my quilt and the bottom strip is incorrect. I made this mistake several times. I found that I had to make sure I had a black square in the top right and bottom left corner of each block before I sewed them together. Do you see where I went wrong in the bottom strip?

You make many of these-112 strips to be exact.

Step 6:
Assemble these into larger units by sewing the two strips together. Here you need to make sure you are consistent. Little black square in the top right and bottom left of each of the strips so that the little black squares in the middle meet up together.

Step 7:
Sew these into rows and then the rows together. Make sure you are keeping those corner squares positioned correctly. I made eight long strips with seven of the patches above. Then sew the strips together!

Here is the finished quilt top. If you make one, I would love to see it!

Scrappy Disappearing Nine Patch Top is Finished

The top for my scrappy disappearing nine patch quilt is finally finished. This quilt fits a full bed and it contains 2,052 2.5" squares. The little black squares are 3/4" square to give you a size reference. Now I wish I had used completely different squares so I could call it my millenium quilt, but maybe next time.:) If there is a next time...


I love, love, love how scrappy it all is. It took me forever because I sewed the blocks together incorrectly so when I had long strips together I realized it wasn't fitting together right. So I had to rip, rip, and rip and then resew. I did this several times. There are still a couple of mistakes, but I don't think they are noticeable unless you really look.

I love how it looks from the back with the sun shining through! It reminds me of stained glass.
Someone always tries to get in the picture. Every time I go outside to take a picture of a quilt, she sneaks into the bottom of the frame. The wind was lightly blowing and as I walked over to start taking it down, her little head popped out. I had to grab a picture! I am definitely keeping this one. It is my favorite so far. Now I just need to start quilting all these tops I am collecting.

Thank you to all of you who sent my mom bloggy birthday love yesterday! I know that she appreciated all of your wonderful comments on her quilts. Thanks!!!

Scrappy Disappearing Nine Patch: Progress

I am still dilegently working away on this scrappy disappearing nine patch. Somehow, I manage to sew a couple blocks the wrong way together so they aren't matching up right. Seam ripper, here I come! I did ponder if anyone would notice, but I would notice, so I should do it right. I have three rows that are completely finished. I need to finish the two half rows that you can see, and I think I will need to add at least one more row to the width. It is slow going, but I really like how colorful it is right now. It will be great as an I-spy quilt because there are so many novelty fabrics from cupcakes and fish to beach sandals.

Craftster Lap Quilt Swap Progress

I finished three more blocks for the Craftster Lap Quilt Swap this weekend. These are for lourapalmr, critterpants, and jenicat.

I have a few more to go!

Scrappy Disappearing Nine Patch wip

Over the last several months, I have been collecting and swapping 2.5 inch squares from numerous quilters. I started assembling these squares into 12" blocks about 2 weeks ago. So far I have 24 12" blocks completed. Here is where I think out loud due to my lacking mathematical ability: Each 12" block contains 4 -9 patchwork squares that are 2.5", so I have 36- 2.5" blocks per 12" square. Therefore, 36 times 24 equals equals 864-2.5" squares. I think that is correct. I think I need at least half that again before this will be big enough but here is where it is at so far.
I really like how scrappy it is! You can click on the pictures for a closer look.

Did you notice that I now have three columns? Thanks to the houseofkrom, I figured out how to adapt the layout. I feel really cool since I edited html code but only because I used this tutorial.

I hope everyone is having a happy Tuesday! Thanks to everyone who suggested ideas on my postage stamp layout. I am currently making a few more squares and may put up a couple more layouts due to some great suggestions.

Fresh Squeezed Disappearing Nine Patch: Finished!!!

Look at what is finally finished! I first blogged about this quilt here. That was on May 28th. It only took me three months to finish. I decided that I could not let a summery quilt not be finished before summer ended so this past Labor Day I leaped to the challenge.


I love how pieced backs look so I decided to try it on a larger scale than I have ever before with this backing. It was actually quite fun. I had two disappearing nine patch blocks left over from the front that I didn't want to go to waste. I also had a friendship star block that matched and a friendship star block that somehow went wrong and became a bearclaw instead. I guess it was tired of just being a star. I then just found more fabrics that matched the overall color scheme and threw it together. It really is my first improvisational attempt. There are a few puckers on the back, but I still love it.
This is also my first attempt at machine quilting and I really had fun with it. These pictures are also a much better representation of the actual orange border color than the first one.

I almost broke my machine-or at least I thought I did. My husband took it in today to get serviced while I was at work, and it is awesome now! It would start this knocking sound and then the needle would stop as if it was jammed; I would have to manually push the shuttle? knob past the point where it was stuck and then hit the gas to get it going again. Now I can sew slowly. That is pretty cool too. I cheat on my binding and sew it all on at one time. On the next quilt, I think I will try the "real" way and handsew part of it. I am not very good at that kind of hand sewing-so we shall see if that really happens. I love it! It is the first quilt I have made that I am keeping for me.