{Classic Quilt Blocks} Nine Patch - A Tutorial

Classic Quilt blocks have been sewn for centuries, are easy to recognise and are every quilters favorite. Let's celebrate these gorgeous blocks and add them to our quilting projects!

Week two of my Classic Quilt Blocks series is always my favorite because it's tutorial week, and I like to think your happily sewing along with me. Hopefully you've had some time to pull fabrics and plan some Nine Patch blocks using last week's colouring sheet, and you're ready to sew.

I'm going to show you two ways to sew this block, and both ways will yield a 6" block (finished). At the end of the post I've put together a Cutting Chart for six different Nine Patch block sizes, so you can use them in all your future projects - quilts, borders and cornerstones!

So, let's get started with the first tutorial and this is the traditional method of piecing a Nine Patch block:

From your background fabric cut:

• 4 x 2 1/2" squares (A)

From your print fabric cut:

• 5 x 2 1/2" squares (B)

• Arrange the nine squares into three rows of three squares as shown in the photo above.

• Sew the squares together into the three rows, pressing the seams towards the print fabrics for nesting.

• Carefully matching the seams, sew the three rows together, pressing seams away from the centre, to yield one Nine Patch block which should measure 6 1/2" square.

And that's it, one gorgeous block to use in future projects. Fun right?

Strip piecing is another option for piecing the Nine Patch block, and this method is useful for piecing multiple blocks quickly and easily. You can use strips from full width's of fabric, the width of a fat quarter or grab your leftover Jelly Roll strips and sew along. The width of your strip will determine how many Nine Patch blocks you can sew at once.

From your background fabric cut:

• 3 x 2 1/2"  WOF (width of fabric) strips 

From your print fabric cut:

• 3 x 2 1/2" WOF strips

• Arrange the strips into two units as shown in the diagram above.
• Sew the strips together into the two units, along the long edge, pressing seams towards the print fabrics for nesting.

• Trim one raw short edge of both units, and then crosscut units at 2 1/2" intervals. You can use the seams and the markings on your ruler to ensure units are cut straight and accuratley.

• You will need two strips from Unit A and one strip from Unit B to complete your block. Carefully matching all seams, sew the three strips together to complete one Nine Patch block measuring 6 1/2" square.
• You can use the left over strips to make more Nine Patch blocks. 

And that's the quicker strip piecing method for the Nine Patch block. This is useful for sewing lots of blocks for quilts, and it saves time cutting and piecing.

I've put together a Cutting Chart of six sizes for you to use. To download and print the chart, simply click on the link or right click on the photo below and save it to your computer:

Each block size goes together the same way, and I've included measurements for both methods of piecing the Nine Patch block so you can choose which method you prefer.

And that's it for this week. Next week I'm sharing a few of my favorite Nine Patch quilts, and there's some beautiful and clever quilts in this post - you're going to love them all. :)

Happy quilting :)