Hello again!
I thought I would explain what a disappearing 9-patch is for those of you non-quilters out there who check into my blog once in awhile. 🙂
You’re welcome! 🙂
A nine patch block is made up of 9 squares (patches) that are sewn together in three rows of three. Usually (but not always) alternating light and dark patches. Here is one of the nine-patches that is going into the Australia Quilt,:
Now let’s make it disappear!
First I am going to cut it exactly in half, using the center block as my guide. That’s right – take a deep breath and slice that baby in half!
Now, without disturbing it, rotate your mat and cut again the other direction, exactly in half, again measuring from the left side of the center square:
Now lets make it disappear!
Flip the top left and bottom right blocks around so they are facing the other way:
Like so:
And Ta Da! Your nine-patch has disappeared!
Ordinarily you would sew them together at this point:
However! Here’s a twist – the pattern I’m following calls for some extra white space added in. So I’ve sewn strips down the center to open it up a bit. Now the disappearing nine-patches look like this:
Here’s a recap: From standard nine-patches:
To disappearing nine-patches (with a spacer strip):
And here’s another disappearing 9-patch quilt top done the regular way (without the spacing strips):
Pretty cool, eh?
Stay tuned for the next installment of Australia Quilt as I become a maverick and leave the pattern directions behind and head off in my own direction!