Hi everybody, it’s Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. Take a look at this quilt
behind me. Look at this quilt. Now these blocks are tiny, they’re tiny. It’s the tiny
little double nine patch. It’s so tiny. But it’s so easy. Let me show you how to
do this because you know if I’m doing it there’s got to be a trick. So to make this
quilt what you’re going to need is one roll of 2 ½ inch strips of a print. And we have
used this awesome Bonnie and Camille roll. It’s called At Home with Bonnie and Camille
for Moda. You’re also going to need a roll of 2 ½ inch background strips. We used white.
And then because we’re making this a double nine patch, you’re going to need some three
inch-ish squares. And so you’re going to need 2 ¼ yards of background fabric that
matches your roll fabric as well. And that’s going to take care of this inner border and
all of these little squares that are in these nine patches. For this border you’re going
to need a yard and a quarter. It’s a nice big six inch border. You guys know I love
a stripe for the binding. You’ll need ¾ of a yard for that. And look at this back.
Isn’t this a gorgeous back? Just beautiful. Really, really a pretty quilt. And I can’t
wait to show you how to do this because this is so fun and I rarely do tiny. I recently
attended a retreat. And there’s a gal there who was working on some teeny, tiny things.
And I”m so amazed. But I decided this time to give it a try. And so I can’t wait to
show you how I did this because it’s really fun.
So what I did was I opened up my strips and some are going to be your middles. You’re
making nine patches like this, like this tiny, sweet, little precious nine patch. You’re
going to need to make five of those so you can make a block like this. This is what we’re
talking about now. So it’s a double nine patch. It’s a nine patch in a nine patch.
And it’s mini so it’s the Mini Double Nine Patch that we’re talking about today.
So what I did was I cut my strips in half. I used a color and a white. And I just cut
them in half. And originally I did this because I wasn’t sure how many I could get out of
each strip but I knew that cutting these little pieces I was going to get a lot. So what I
did was I took my strips and I sewed them together on both sides. So I have a colored
strip and a white strip and they are sewn a quarter of an inch on both sides. Now that’s
important. Alright so now what we’re going to do is we’re going to take this strip
and I’m going to fold it in half and line it up exactly like this so it matches, this
edge matches exactly. I’m going to take my ruler and I’m going to cut this strip
right in half. So this is a 2 ½ inch strip so we’re going to do a 1 ¼ cut. And I’m
measuring from the edge of the fabric, not the seam line. So 1 ¼ from the edge of the
fabric and we’re going to make this cut. And I’m going to make sure I’ve got all
my little pieces and I did.
So now we have these two pieces. Now this one right here I’m going to press open and
look how tiny they are. It’s so cute. I actually really enjoyed this. This was something,
you know I don’t tend to do these kind of tiny things but it’s easy when you have
a trick. And we definitely have a little trick for this. Alright so now this one, if this
is going to be my outside strip set, I need another piece. My other half of this I”m
going to take and cut in half so that I have a 1 ¼ inch strip to add to the other side.
So again I’m folding this in half measuring from the edge of the fabric just like this.
And this one is going to go on this side. And this makes your outer edge of your nine
patch. Now for the middle one I”ll use this strip for the middle. And we iron it back
just like this. And we will use the other half of the white strip that we’ve cut in
half. Let me just cut one right here. I’m going to cut it at the fold. And then we’re
going to fold this up and cut it too. So I can just show you so you have a visual of
how this is going to work. 1 ¼ is half of 2 ½. So then this strip set right here, this
one makes the outside. When we add a white to the outside of this one, it makes the inside.
So now you can see how that’s done. So let’s go ahead and sew one of these down.
Alright, I’m just going to line this up. Now when you’re dealing with tiny, one of
the little tips is that that quarter of an inch matters because, you know, if it’s
off at all, I mean the block we’re talking about the finished size is like ¾ of an inch.
So that matters. So watch that quarter of an inch. I have this cool tape on here that
is called diagonal seam tape. And it’s great to have. You can use a quarter inch foot,
put some painter’s tape, whatever. But just know that you want to watch your quarter of
an inch on this. So I’m staying really close to that line. And it’s ok for these tiny
things to slow down a little bit. I won’t sew quite so fast. I can’t help it, you
guys. Everything, I’m just like Speedy Gonzalez. Alright so now we’ve got our strips sewn
down and we’re going to press that open. And you want to press, make sure that you
press toward the dark. So we’re just going to make sure there’s no pleats, no folds.
That’s really important when you’re dealing with a block this tiny.
Alright so now on these blocks you’ll notice I made my center different. And so I have
some centers already cut of a different fabric. And what I’m going to do is I’m going
to cut, I’m just going to straighten up this edge. And then I’m going to cut them
in inch and a quarter segments. And for each block I’m going to need two of these. And
there are, let’s see and I kept my colors together and there are five blocks on here
so that means I need to make ten cuts. Now I have, I have some of these already done.
But I’m just going to go ahead and cut a few of these so you can see. You can actually
fold this strip in half if you want. You just have to make sure it’s really lined up carefully
if you do that. And when you’re dealing with these tinys don’t take those kind of
chances until you feel really confident. You can see I’m still cutting one at a time.
And I am a stacker. Alrighty. Now what we’re going to do is we’re going to take these
middles right here. And I am going to, now the middles again, I pressed to the dark.
So they will nest up with these seams. So they will just slide in here and nest up with
these seams. And I’m just going to sew a few of these together. We’re going to chain
piece them enough for the block. And this feels, you know, it’s not harder, it’s
just smaller. And so you just want to remember that when you’re sewing. This is not at
all harder, we’ve made a million nine patches. And that’s one of the reasons I wanted to
try with this block is because it’s not a harder block but it is a smaller block.
So let me make sure I’ve got this one lined up. And one more and then we’re going to
sew the other sides on these. Now another thing when you’re sewing tiny, this is another
reminder and this is a tip that is a good tip. You probably want to shorten your stitch
length a little bit because when you’re dealing with these tiny little seams it would
be real easy for them to come apart, you know, because they’re just not very much, there’s
just not very much room there. Alright so now what I’m going to do is I’m going
to sew the other half on these to make a completed nine patch. And I’m just going to line this
up. Now my, make sure that you put your other side, you know, it goes on this side over
here so you’re lining it up with your little middle green square. Just like this. It just
takes a bit of time. Alright so here’s my last little one for the center.
And then what you want to do, of course we’ve given you sizes in the pattern. But what you
want to make sure, consistency is more important than perfection. It’s more important than,
oh my gosh, mine is this much off. If yours are all the same, it has to do with the width
of your seam allowance, don’t stress over it. So what you want to do is you want to
take your blocks and you want to look at them and see if they’re all about the same size
and they should be. And mine are. You want to give that a measure. And you want to know
that you’re going to need a background block to go right next to that that is the same
size. And so you’re going to cut a strip that is that same size. And mine is three.
And then you’re going to cut the squares into that same size.
Alright so now we’re ready to lay this out. And we’re going to put our four pieces out,
one in the middle. And you’re going to have a square, a background square in between them.
Now if you sew the perfect quarter of an inch that block size is going to 2 ¾. But if yours
don’t come out exactly that don’t be afraid to measure them and cut them your size because
everybody’s quarter inch is a little different. And when you’re dealing with these tiny,
tiny numbers that matters. So I’m going to sew these together in a row. You can see
we made a big nine patch with our little nine patches. And I’m just going to stitch these
together now. And they don’t match up with anything so no stress over that. I’m going
to go right down this side and pick up the first two vertical rows. And honestly, for
me, for me, this is another little tip and it’s not a helpful tip except for stress.
I sew with the white fabric on the top. If I sew this way then I’m worried about all
those little seams and we don’t need to be. They’re pressed down, they’re fine.
They’re going to fit in there. And for me it’s just like, oh I can sew that seam on
that background, you know. It just makes it work a little easier in my brain. And so then
here we’re going to come over here and add the other side. And so I’m going to flip
this over and go right down the other side. And also if your blocks, if they come out
so that they are, you know, if they don’t fit exactly, remember that we’re still dealing
with a quarter of an inch seam here so when we put the block together you might be able
to hide that in the seam so don’t really stress about this too much. Because this,
this is the first tiny thing I have ever done and honestly I made, I came up with this idea.
I made quite a few blocks and then I handed it over to my granddaughter Aislynn. She works
on our sewing team. And she has not made very many quilts and she was able to finish this
quilt. And look how gorgeous it is. And, I mean I’m just so proud of her because this
is some work. And so I think that’s really cool. And to me that kind of gives everybody
hope that, you know, that even a beginner, you know, fairly beginner can accomplish this
with just a little patience and you know, slow down a little bit. Alright so now I’m
going to sew these three rows together. And I’m starting and I’m going to match up
my block and my seam in there. And that’s where you just want to watch to make sure
that your little pieces don’t come, because if you give it a tug that piece could come
unsewn and you don’t want it to. And my last row. And I’m going to fold this and
make sure this fits. Flip this over and start this way I think. Alright now on some of these
I’ll show you this in a minute. But on some of these like the white part is a little taller
than the other part. But I know that I can catch that in that seam. And the feed dogs
will take in more fabric and so we don’t have to worry about that too much. Oh, it
actually looks really good. Alright let me iron this. The iron, steam, this is our friend.
Alright, look how beautiful this is. I feel so proud of myself right now.
Now let me show you how I put this together in the quilt because this was fun too. This
wasn’t what I was thinking but this is what happened. And that often happens. When you
get all your blocks and you have your design wall there and you just start putting things
out and you try different things, you’re like, this is what I like. And so this is
what we came up with. And we decided just to put them right next to each other. So there
are rows that are just right next to each other. No staggering, no nothing. So when
the next one, when we put this whole row together we get a four, you know, our nine patch fours
up as a secondary block right there. And so let’s see. We’ve got one, two, three,
four, five, six, seven, eight blocks across. And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight, nine down. We made 72 blocks.
Now the interesting thing, let me show you how I put these together. And I actually changed
this about halfway through the quilt, I made a change. And so see how these go together
as we’re sewing them together and they make this little secondary four patch and they
kind of chain, you know, off each other which I really love. But what I decided because
there were such lights and darks in this roll, you know, right here you can see. There’s
all these darks and vibrants and then we have these lights over here. I decided to put my
lights to the edge. And so see how it kind of lightens up on the edge. I think it gives
it like a sparkle look. It just gives it a really cool look because I’ve got the heavier
colors in the middle and it kind of sparkles going out to the edge. So gosh guys I hope
you’ll give this a try. It’s as easy as sewing two strips together and cutting them
in half. And I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on the Mini Double Nine Patch from the Missouri
Star Quilt Company.