I wanted to finish this top here at the house as it is on-point, making it hard to put together without lots of room to spread out. I do ...
Free Quilt Pattern: Disappearing 4-Patch
Hi Stash Bee! My name is Em and I have participated in Stash Bee all except one year, I think. Five times? Anyway, I always enjoy this ...
New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale
I recently made a 9 Patch Quilt and I couldn't believe how quickly it came together and how WELL it turned out! Let me tell you all about it!
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The disappearing four patch is an easy quilt block that is perfect for beginners because it looks more complicated than it actually is!
This scrappy quilt top was purchased last year on ebay. It is entirely hand pieced with vintage dress fabrics (no feedsacks), and measures a generous 68 x 86 with finished squares measuring 1. I really like the random selection of prints and colors and, although I have spent a fair amount of time looking at this top, I have not discovered any rules that the maker followed when designing her top. It appears to be completely unplanned, and I get the feeling that she just stitched her blocks and sashing out of whatever scraps she had on hand. When she ran out of a particular fabric, she just moved on to another. In checking the stitching on the back of the top, it's obvious she also sewed elements together in a random fashion, with the top expanding in different directions and no continuous seams. It's hard to know what to do with this top. Although the fabrics are in good condition, it bothers me that the construction is less than perfect with many seams that do not match (which would probably require an all-over quilting pattern). I'm torn -- there's a part of me that wants to take the top apart and re-make it changing some of the things that bug me (those solid crosses, for instance) and fixing the alignment, or I could just quilt it the way it is and preserve all the little imperfections and idiosyncrasies. What would you do? Update: Of course there's a rule -- I don't know why I didn't notice this before. With the exception of one square (the green center in the pink cross), all of the cornerstone pieces are predominantly red or pink. Vintage 9-Patch Quilt Top hand pieced, unknown quilter 68 x 86
on family, fiber, and fun
The Cutting Tips Will Work for Any Block Pattern! Nine-patch blocks have long been important building blocks for quilts of many styles. There are several ways they can be set together, with or without other fabric between them. They are often incorporated into other blocks, as well. Basic nine-patches are simple to make, especially with …
They had me at Betsy! When I saw the announcement for the Betsy Nine Patch Quilt-along I knew I was in.
Pair bright, large prints with a black print to create movement in this creative throw. Strip sets enable you to make the Sixteen Patch units quickly. About This Quilt Finished Size: 56″ x 64″ Rating:
Learn how to make the disappearing 9 patch with a little extra fun twist. This is such a crazy disappearing quilt block. Didn't think it could be done any
I love participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival because it gives me an opportunity to highlight some favorite quilts from when I first started blogging and had very few readers. This quilt has a sad story with a happy ending, which I am just going to copy here from my original post in 2009. This was the first quilt I made from vintage fabric. The prints are more 40's and 50's so the colors are brighter than some of my other quilts, and it's entirely hand pieced, which is unusual for this pattern since it's an easy pattern to sew on the machine. When I began to seriously quilt again about 8 years ago, I wanted to hand piece everything. When it came time for the quilting, I did a couple of rows and decided I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the piecing. I thought about the church ladies in Ohio who had finished the quilting on my first quilt, Morning Glory in the 70's (and several quilts for my mother and mother-in-law), and decided to contact them. Mrs. H responded that her group was still quilting and they would be pleased to finish my quilt. I packed up the quilt and mailed it the next day. About a month later I got it back and was so excited to take a look. Well, friends, you would not have believed what I found. The poor church ladies must have been really old by then because the quilt was a complete mess -- the stitches looked like a child had done them, there were really dark pencil lines from tracing the flower template, and the muslin back was covered with little blood stains. I was devastated! After I recovered from the shock, I started the process of taking out all of their quilting and doing it over -- one block at a time. Here's what I used: seam ripper, tweezers, a little cup of diluted Oxyclean, Q-tips, and a hairdryer -- it took about 6 months to complete. The good thing that happened was that I began to enjoy hand quilting, which is now my favorite part of the quilt-making process. Mrs. H and her friends were paid, and I never told them that I was unhappy with the result. They had done such beautiful work when they were younger, and it was sad that their vision had obviously deteriorated. I discovered after this quilt was done that one of my pieced blocks and two of the quilted flowers are turned the wrong direction. I couldn't really fix the pieced block, but I didn't change the flowers either which is kind of strange since I'm usually sort of a perfectionist about this type of thing. For some reason, it just doesn't bother me at all. 9-Patch and Snowball Martha Dellasega Gray, 2001 hand pieced, hand quilted 70 x 80
A sampling of quilts using a variety of techniques in order to produce multiples available for purchase or to act as inspiration for custom orders. To see what is currently available for sale, please visit my Etsy Shop .
My Four Patch Shuffle top is done and may become a teaching sample and later a donation quilt. Here it's shown sideways because it's too long to fit on the wall. As promised, I'm offering a tutorial, and here it is. Text and images copyright Jan Ochterbeck 2023. Four Patch Shuffle Finished Size 56” x 72” Block finished size 8” The blocks for this quilt are created by making simple framed square parent blocks, cutting them into fourths, shuffling the parts, and reassembling the blocks four at a time. Fabric Requirements White: 1-5/8 yards Black: 1-3/8 yards Four Colors, each: 1/2 yard. Shown here as Yellow, Blue, Green, Orange. Cutting WOF (width of fabric) strips are based on 40” width and yield 4 pieces cut 9” long, or 8 pieces cut 5” long. · White: o Cut 5 5” WOF strips. Sub cut them into 5” squares. Total 40 squares. o Cut 12 2-1/2” WOF strips. Sub cut 8 WOF strips into 9” pieces, total 32 9” pieces. Sub cut 4 WOF strips into 5” pieces, total 32 5” pieces. · Black: o Cut 2 5” WOF strips. Sub cut them into 5” squares. Total 16 squares. o Cut 12 2-1/2” WOF strips. Sub cut 8 WOF strips into 9” pieces, total 32 9” pieces. Sub cut 4 WOF strips into 5” pieces, total 32 5” pieces. · Each Color: o Cut 6 2-1/2” WOF strips. Sub cut 4 WOF strips into 9” pieces, total 16 9” pieces. Sub cut 2 WOF strips into 5” pieces, total 16 5” pieces. Making the parent blocks: There are two types of parent blocks to make two sets of final blocks. All seams right sides together, 1/4” seam allowance. Parent blocks should measure 9” square including seam allowances when sewn. Accuracy in making the parent blocks will ensure better results in the final blocks. · Primary parent blocks o Sew 5” colored or black pieces to the top and bottom of a white square. Press seams toward the color. o Sew 9” pieces of the same color to the sides to complete the parent block. Press seams toward the color. o Make 16 black-framed parent blocks. o Make 8 of each color parent blocks. · Secondary Parent Blocks o Sew 5” white pieces to the top and bottom of a black square. Press seams toward the black. o Sew 9” white pieces to the sides to complete the secondary parent block. Press seams toward the black. o Make 16 black-centered white-framed parent blocks. Cutting the Parent Blocks: Each parent block should measure 9” square. · Cut each one in half vertically at the center, 4-1/2” away from the edge. · Then cut each one across horizontally at the center, again 4-1/2” from the edge. · Resulting quadrants measure 4-1/2” square. · Cut all the parent blocks into fourths. Making the Final Blocks: Block A Yellow/Blue: Each sewn block should measure 8-1/2” square including seam allowance. Chain piecing is recommended. Make four of the same block at a time from one yellow and one blue parent block and two black and white parent blocks. · Lay out block quadrants as shown. o Note direction of frame seams (red arrows); make frame seams go the same direction within each block. o Half of the blocks will have vertical frame seams and half will have horizontal frame seams. · Matching frame seams where needed, sew top two block quadrants together; frame seams should nest. Press seam toward the color. · Likewise, sew bottom two block quadrants together. · Matching centers and frame seams, sew top and bottom halves of block together four patch style. · Press and if desired, spin seams. · Repeat using all yellow and blue block quadrants to result in 32 Block A’s. Block B, Green/Orange: Each block should measure 8-1/2” square including seam allowance. Chain piecing is recommended. Make four of the same block at a time from one green and one orange parent block and two black and white parent blocks. · Lay out block quadrants as shown. o Note direction of frame seams; make frame seams go the same direction within each block. o Half the blocks will have vertical frame seams and half will have horizontal frame seams. · Matching frame seams where needed, sew top two block quadrants together. Frame seams should nest. Press seam toward the black. · Likewise, sew bottom two block quadrants together. · Matching centers and frame seams, sew top and bottom halves of block together four patch style. · Press and if desired, spin seams. · Repeat using all block quadrants to result in 32 Block B’s. There will be one extra Block B left over after top is assembled. Quilt top assembly: · Lay out Blocks A and B in rows of seven. Make 9 rows. o For best seam nesting, alternate blocks with vertical and horizontal frame seams. · Alternate placement of Blocks A and B to create light and dark visual diagonals. · Sew blocks into rows; press all seams toward Block B. · Sew rows together; seams should nest. Press row seams all in one direction. Quilting and finishing: Backing: If pieced horizontally, 3-1/2 yards of fabric are needed. If pieced vertically, 4-1/2 yards of fabric are needed. Batting: at least 64” x 80” Quilting: Quilt as desired. Because of the strong diagonal stripe effect created by the placement of light and dark, avoid a pantograph that features a strong diagonal repeat which could fight with the visual diagonal. Binding: If cut 2-1/4” wide, need 5/8 yard. If cut 2-1/2” wide, need 3/4 yard. Cut 8 WOF strips. Alternate layouts: Original Layout: Each color is separated from the others. Alternate Layout: The four colors come together. This results in more prominent diagonals. Quilt of Valor variation, original layout: Substitute dark navy or deep charcoal grey for black. Substitute red for both yellow and orange. Total 1 yard needed or go scrappy. Substitute medium blue for both blue and green. Total 1 yard needed or go scrappy. Note: Be sure there is strong value contrast between the navy or charcoal grey and the medium blue. Choose a bright red rather than a dark red. Size as shown is 56 x 72”. Option: Add 4” borders to enlarge top to 64” x 80”. Borders will require 1-1/8 yards of fabric. Cut 8 4-1/2” WOF strips. I had fun with this Four Patch Shuffle, which is similar to my Cut and Shuffle method, and I hope if you like the tutorial, you'll have fun with it too. (Book is out of print) If you'd like a PDF of this tutorial, leave a comment and be sure to include your first name and email address in the text of the comment. My top will eventually be quilted and will be donated to the local family services agency. PS - Pardon the formatting irregularities. Blogger doesn't cooperate when I copy and paste from a Word document and add pictures. Link ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Quilt Fabrication, My Quilt Infatuation, Alycia Quilts, Confessions of Fabric Addict, Wendy's Quilts and More,
I'm going to try combining these two units (patches) to make four-patch blocks. Then I'll try using the blocks to design quilt tops. ...
An exploration of quilt ideas
Mainly with leftovers, most of the fabrics are repro from the civil war era. Decoration with vegetables in basket.
