Oversized Disappearing Nine Patch Tutorial

Although this quilt is everywhere, and I'm possibly the last quilter on earth to make one, I thought I'd give you a quick overview of how I did it and the size blocks I used.

Recap:  A Disappearing Nine Patch block is a Nine Patch that you cut in half horizontally and vertically and then rearrange the resulting blocks.  There are numerous layouts you can use, although I haven't found one site that lists them all.

Here are some that I love and considered:

Chain

Easy Sashing and Cornerstones

On Point

Twist and Turn

Random

I chose to make the "chain" style (and that's only my name for it, as far as I know).  I wanted it to be a little less random and scrappy looking for this particular quilt.

I liked how the giant Bento Box blocks turned out on my older son's quilt, so I went for the same look here.  After playing with the math, I ended up with twelve 19 1/2" blocks.  This gave me a finished quilt that was 58 1/2" x 78". 

To get these, I chose six green fabrics, six gold fabrics, and one black fabric.  You need 2/3 yard of the black, although I bought a yard so I can use it for the binding as well.  You also need 1/2 yard EACH of the green and gold fabrics if, like me, you found six different ones.  If you only use one of each color, then you will need 2 yards of each.  Plus you need any border or back you choose. 

I cut eight 7" squares from each green and each gold fabric (for a total of forty-eight green and forty-eight gold).
I cut twelve 7" squares from the black fabric.

Before doing any sewing, you need to decide if you want the blocks to be the same (as in, the same green in each corner and the same gold in all four places) or truly scrappy.  I tried to audition them both ways, but it was a little tricky to envision.  If you are unsure, sew them together so they are the same, and try mixing them up after they are cut.

I wanted mine to be as scrappy as possible, but I got a little controlling with making sure that there weren't clumps of the same color.  Here's how I did it:

1.  Lay out the stacks of fabric so that all of the squares in the stack are the same.

2.  Take 2 squares from each green fabric and set them to the side.

3.  Take 2 squares of each gold fabric and sew them to a black square. Press towards the black.

4.  Now you have 6 remaining squares of all 12 fabrics.  Starting with one green stack, pair each one with a different gold square.    Follow this pattern for the remaining five green fabric stacks.  This will use up the remainder of the squares.  Sew these pairs together.  Press all of your pairs towards the green. 

5.  Sew each black/gold pair to a green/gold pair, ensuring that the gold fabrics are different.  Press toward the green/gold pair.  You will have green/gold pairs left over.

6.  Select another green/gold pair that has different fabrics and sew it to these blocks.  Press towards the black.  You will have green/gold pairs left over.

7.  Now take your remaining green/gold pairs and the green squares you set aside in step 2.  Sew a different green to each one.  Press towards the green.

8.  Lay out your blocks to make sure they are as scrappy as possible and sew the bottom row onto your nine patch.  Press toward the center.

You should now have 12 scrappy nine patch blocks.  Cut each one in half both horizontally and vertically.  Now you have 48 ten inch blocks.

Lay the blocks out in whatever way pleases you and sew together.  I prefer the "chunking" method to sewing them in rows.

Add a border if you prefer.  I chose not to.  Press well.  Sandwich for quilting.

Quilt as desired.

Just kidding!  You know that's my pet peeve!  Of course you can quilt it however you'd like.  I chose to use a grid similar to the crosshatch design on my older son's quilt.

If you try this, let me know how the directions might be improved.  I'd love to see pictures of your D9P quilt!



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