Building Blocks: Nine-Patch Know-How

Here's the thing about strip piecing a nine patch block -- as long as you use the same measurement every time you cut, it doesn't matter what measurement you use. You'll see what I mean.

Take your 45" wide dark cotton fabric and fold it so you can cut a 45" strip off one edge using your rotary cutter (ruler and cutting mat). Start by trimming the fabric to a straight line.


Cut a strip Two and a Half (2.5) inches wide (by 45"). You'll need four of these from the dark fabric.

Take your second contrasting (light) fabric and do the same. You'll need five of those.

Now go to the sewing machine. Remember we're using quarter inch seam allowances.

Put the right sides of the fabric together and sew a dark strip to a light strip (along the 45 inch length). Do that three times. Don't freak out if the strips are different lengths -- textile manufacturers don't seem to always agree on how wide 45 inches really is.

As you sew you can use a method called chain stitching. It's a sort of assembly line method. When you're doing several seams/units that are the same don't worry about stopping after each one, just sew one right after another. That's called chain stitching you can snip the threads between them when you're done sewing. I find it cuts down a lot on the amount of wasted threads.

Now press your seams. (We will be pressing our seams towards the dark side for this block).

Back to the sewing machine. You should have three identical sewn strip units and two light un-sewn strips and one dark un-sewn strip left.

Sew a dark strip to the light side of the first sewn unit.

Then a light strip to the dark side of the second sewn unit.

And the light strip to the dark side of the third sewn unit.

And press. Go towards the dark side -- and that isn't really meant to be a Star Wars reference although it certainly sounds like it could be one.

Now we go back to the cutting mat. Begin by trimming off the selvage edges so you have a straight line. You can see my preshrunk blue batik is a good two inches shorter than my unwashed yellow fabric. Just trim off the extras and the selvage edges and start with a straight edge -- not a big deal.

[I prefer unwashed fabrics, for the puckering effect, but I wash my batiks and some darker fabrics because they tend to bleed a little.]

Next, our measurement was Two and a Half (2.5) inches, so cut at 2.5 inches so that you have three 2.5 inch squares already sewn together. Don't you love it?

Cut all the strips down like that. (And stack them in three fun this is what the block will look like stacks, or not, your call there.) You should have twice as many of the light-dark-lights as you do of the dark-light-darks.

Take one row of light-dark-light squares, and one row of dark-light-dark squares and pin them together at the corners of the center square. You'll notice that the seams butt up against each other going opposite ways, this will cut down on bulk and also helps lock the seam in place for crisp corners.
We're still using quarter inch seam allowances. Sew. And Press. This time you can press the seam anyway you want -- I'm pressing mine open for less bulk but you don't have to.

Now, to the other side of the dark-light-dark row sew another row of light-dark-light the same way. Pin, seam, press. You finished a block! (Don't forget to press it flat.)

Our 2.5 inch measurement makes a (six) 6 inch finished block -- it's 6.5 inches right now because it still has quarter inch seam allowance around the outer edges. Six inch blocks means you need to do a bunch of them to make a quilt. You'll need 42 six inch blocks (seven rows by six rows) to make a baby quilt that's 36 inches by 42 inches.

Are you impatient? I am too ....ummm.... make that really busy. So here's something we can do to make the quilt top work up faster, simply change our cutting measurement. Strips cut at 3.5 inches will make a 9 inch block, or 4.5 inches makes a 12 inch block and 5.5 inches will make a 15 inch block (although you need really interesting fabric to carry off a nine-patch block that big). There are all sorts of sizes in between too, as long as you always use the same cutting measurement it doesn't matter what size you're working with. Isn't that great?

Another way to make a bigger with our smaller blocks, and make it faster, is to use an alternate block, a solid square of fabric is the easiest alternate block but there are lots of different options, and sashing too can be narrow or wide making a difference in the size and look of the quilt top.





Is anyone else hearing a voice that says "Tune in next time for the continuing saga of P i g s I n S p a c e . . ." or is that just me and my Muppets?
In my next Building Blocks I'll take a look at simple Irish chains, alternate blocks, sashing, and other ways to spice up and finish up your nine patch.

He is Seen in the Wings of Morning

If I ascend the heavens -- there Thou [art], And spread out a couch in Sheol, lo, Thee!
I take the wings of morning, I dwell in the uttermost part of the sea,
Also there Thy hand doth lead me, And Thy right hand doth hold me.

Psalm 139: 8-10 (YLT)

And He [Jehovah] rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And is seen on the wings of the wind.

Second Samuel 22: 11(YLT)

Separate wonderfully Thy kindness, O Saviour of the confiding, By Thy right hand, from withstanders.
Keep me as the apple, the daughter of the eye; In shadow of Thy wings thou dost hide me.

Psalm 17: 7-8 (YLT)

Building Blocks: Ten Things to Begin With

You want to make a quilt but have never made one before? Obviously, there are some things to know about quilting. Here's my slanted opinion on the basics.

1. A quarter inch seam allowance is standard, and most sewing machine have an optional (or included) foot that is a quarter inch foot. I have one, and I just run the edge of my fabric right along the edge of the foot and Perfect (or close enough). I love my quarter inch foot.



2. You need to press the block as you make it. Some people press the seams open so it will lie flatter, some people press the seam allowance under the darker fabric so it won't show through, and some people only care about pressing it to the side that makes it look best when you flip it over to the front -- I'm one of those. You can finger press if you like but a good old ironing board and an iron (possibly extra spray starch) make life easier.

3. Rotary cutters are necessary. How pioneer women ever did without these pizza-slicer-like tools is beyond me. I like the occasional template but for squares and triangles (especially with machine strip-piecing) it's a rotary cutter every time. That means a cutting mat and an omni-grid ruler too. Trust me it's worth investing in one of these if you plan on making more than one quilt ever.

4. Buy thin pins. To be honest I rarely pin anywhere but the points of stars and triangles, but when I do I pin it's because I want my points to (mostly) match properly. Thin pins are less likely to shift the fabric as you pin, meaning the points are more likely to stay put. Thin pins are also less likely to break the sewing machine needle if you sew over them -- and you know that's not just speculation. If you can find glass headed dressmakers pins get those, they don't melt when you iron them. You might not think that's an important feature but, well, I do.

5. Use grey thread. I talked about that already here.

6. Most quilts use cotton fabrics, which come on bolts 45 inches wide and sold by the yard (or quarter yard). Get woven fabrics, not knits. Knits will stretch and ruffle and bumfle. And you really do want to use a natural fiber, I've made some wool quilts and quite a few cotton quilts and I'd be tempted by linens and silks -- but poly-cottons, double knits, and the like are a pain to sew through. They'll blunt your needle faster, and polyesters don't hold a crease (you'll never get those seams to lie flat).

7. Cotton fabric does shrinks the first time it's washed, a subject I sort of already talked about here.

8. When in doubt go for high contrast. Lighter lights and darker darks and brighter accent colors will stand out against each other more making the quilt block more highly graphic. If you're going to spend several hours (or years) cutting fabric into little bits and sewing it back together again you want that pattern to show up. (I'll talk more about color theory some other time.)

9. There are different ways to finish a quilt, you can use a quilting stitches to secure the three layers (top, batting, and backing) or tie it. I use pearl cottons or tapestry yarns instead of embroidery floss to tie a quilt, I like the texture better. And those raw edges can be hidden envelope style, or with binding, or by simply folding one edge over the other. I've used all three methods and I think I prefer the latter.

10. Start simple. Trust me the beautiful Lonestars and Mariner's Compasses are not easy. Don't start with the hard stuff, you don't teach advanced calculus in kindergarten. [Well, I suppose there might be some kid who... no, back to the subject at hand.] And start small, that is, with a small project like a baby quilt (not small as in you have one inch finishes squares --that's just nuts.) There are plenty of blocks that are easy and look wonderful. The Nine Patch, examples of which are pictured in this post, happens to be an easy block to sew as well as a favorite in my family.

Up Next -- Nine-Patch Know-How

Pieces Of Paper : Seed Envelopes

All these flower photos, you’ve probably guessed I love to garden. This time of year the seed heads on the flowers in the garden are ripe for gathering. I save seeds from my favorite flowers to make sure that I will have those flowers again next year. Moreover, I like to save my seeds in pretty envelopes that I make myself. For a while, I printed out photos and cut envelopes from the picture of the flower that corresponded to the seed. This year I’ve done something a bit different. I have leftover scrapbooking paper and I thought Why not use that up? Let me show you what I mean.

The envelope pattern I’m using makes a 3.5 by 2.25 inch finished envelope – basically I traced the rectangle of an envelope I thought would be about the right size and then added side flaps and end flaps. I lay my pattern on my sheet of scrapbooking paper, trace round it with pencil, and then cut it out.

Folding the flaps over is easier if you use a ruler to crease the paper in a straight line. Do that on all four sides.

Next fold over and glue those side flaps to make the back. I trace where they overlap with a pencil so that I can apply the glue neatly because I’m using a glue stick. You could also use rubber cement and not worry about sloppy gluing because it rubs off neatly when it’s dry.

Glue the bottom (smaller) flap next. and then let the glue dry. You don’t need to glue the top until after you put the seeds in… and, actually, sometimes I just tape it shut. To keep it pretty, I'll have to remember to erase those pencil lines.

The next step is to embellish. Why not? I’ve got lace stickers, labels, rub-on thingys and water release Donna Dewberry dragonflies (talk about one stroke painting!) leftover from scrapbooking too. It’s not so much Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, as it is Repurpose, Reinvent, and Remember (where did I put that stuff?). I had so much fun with embellishments I almost forgot to leave room to lable the seeds with the year and name of the plants.

Last week I had some California Poppy seeds to save. This week I’ve got seeds from the Hobbit’s Foot Salvia that are dry and ready, and some Honesty* seeds to collect, and there will be more seeds to save as the summer rolls on.

*Honesty is also known as Money Plant or Moon Seed – I like calling it Honesty. There is something delightful about the idea of saving seeds of honesty. Don’t you think?

The Trees are Watching

Jeremiah 1:11-12
The Word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. The Lord said to me “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” (NIV)


This passage never made sense to me, in fact I often skimmed past it in my readings focusing on the pot tilted north and the message of impending troubles in the next verses. Then I learned that the Hebrew word for watching “shôkêd” sounds like the Hebrew word for almond tree “shâkêd.” It’s a pun. Evidently, the Lord appreciates a good play on words. The almond branch told Jeremiah that God observed all the events of his life. God watches to see that His word is fulfilled in our lives too.

In the Middle East, the almond tree blooms around mid-January or February and is the earliest tree to blossom. The pale pink-white flowers appear even before the tree leafs out. Because of its early blooms the almond tree was considered a divine symbol of the Lord accomplishing His promises quickly. This symbolism adds yet another layer of meaning to the message: Not only is God watching to see that we follow His Word, He watches to see how quickly He can fulfill His promises for our lives.

Are we following His will for our lives? A friend of mine recounted a story to me about a warehouse in heaven filled with unclaimed blessings – blessings that would have gone to the saints had we persevered in what the Lord asked of us. What a sad thought. How much sadder to know that there must be hundreds of occasions when Lord watches, waiting to fulfill His promises, as we hesitate to do as His word instructs.

There is Sunshine in My Soul Today

Yellow is a color they say should be used sparingly in quilts. "They" might be right but I'm not listening. The secret to using yellow is balance. If yellow is your accent color make sure your touches of yellow are balanced across the entirety of the quilt top. Yellow attracts the eye and will dominate attention (if it is not spread out evenly) making your quilt look lopsided. If you really love yellow (like I do) use a two color block with the weight equally divided (balanced) between yellow and a second color. White and yellow will make a sunshiney happy quilt, and yellow with black makes a stunningly elegant combination, and green and yellow, as we can see in nature, play well together too.

Young Man's Fancy

Does anyone know the story behind the name of this block? I don't, that's why I ask. It is probably more prosaic than it sounds. Perhaps just a fancy pattern made for a young man. But what possibilities occur to the imagination?

I picture a quilter named Edith, about sixteen, very much in love with a young man in the village. Pouring her heart into creativity she designs and begins piecing a quilt she hopes will be their wedding quilt. But his fancy, his interest is captured by another young lady whom he marries. Poor Edith is left with a broken heart and an unfinished quilt. Years later, Edith realizes she is grateful not to have married the first young man because now she has found happiness married to an even better fellow, the true love of her life. Edith pulls the unfinished blocks from her hope chest to make a company quilt for the guest room bed. Did she name her new pattern Young Man's Fancy for the nephew who first slept under the finished quilt, or for fond memories of the young man who's roaming fancy left her available when the right fellow came along?

What do you imagine?