Disney gave us “101 Dalmatians,” and Nellie Forbush sang that her Honey Bun was “101 pounds of fun” in the musical South Pacific. I present to you 110 9-patches. My brain begins to melt if I think too much about that number, especially when the finished block is 3 inches and also used as cornerstones in the sashing. However, the red and white 9-patch creates the chain linking all the blocks together in this quilt.
I am ever so grateful for strip piecing techniques that reduces the sewing time and moves the construction along. I admit to the time consuming nature of these units even with the strip piecing technique. Then I remember hearing a favorite author talk say “90% of the creative process is tedious.” In my opinion, 110 three inch nine-patches counts as tedious. On the other hand, making them all up front means they get finished and I won’t choose a different layout of blocks just to have a completed quilt.
Making the 9-patch units
- From the white cut 16 strips 1 1/2″ x WOF (width of fabric)
- From the red cut 20 strips 1 1/2″ x WOF
- Sew 4 sets of strips White – Red – White, press seams to the red
- Sew 8 sets of strips Red – White -Red, press seams to the red
- Sub cut the strips crosswise for units measuring 1 1/2″ x 3 1/2″
Arrange the units in alternating rows to create the 9-patch as shown below making 110 units.
Set aside 30 of the 9-patch units to use with the sashing. Sew the remaining 80 units to the 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ white rectangles. Press toward the rectangle.
Complete the corner units by sewing the 4-patch units to the 9-patch as shown. Press toward the 4-patch.
Snippets from the Attic 