Hi everybody, it’s Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. And I’ve got a great
project for you behind me. Let’s take a look at it. This is a beautiful quilt. And
it is a disappearing nine patch. I’ve been really fascinated to figure out what happens
if on the disappearing nine patch and I’ve been working on that a lot lately. And so
I want to show you how we did this because we changed the whole thing up when we added
in this sashing strip right here, right in the middle of our block. And so it just makes
it really fun. So to make this quilt you’re going to need one packet of ten inch squares.
And we’ve used Jane Austin at Home by Riley Blake Fabrics. And it’s just a beautiful
line. And I love how they try so hard to be historically correct. You’re also going
to need a layer cake of ten inch background squares. And out of these ten inch squares
we’re going to cut our five inch squares and our 2 ½ inch squares so you’ll get
everything you need out of that. I also used some accent fabric. I used the gray and I
used the blue here and you need a yard and a half of both. Your border is a yard and
¾ and it’s a nice big six inch border. And your backing, nice backing and it is six
yards on that backing. Now this makes a quilt that is 79 by 96 so it’s a great, big quilt,
really good size. So let me show you how to make this because this is really a fun one.
Basically what we’re going to do is we’re going to pick one of our layer cake squares
and we are going to cut it into fourths. So all of these are going to be cut into fourths
because we are making nine patch blocks. And these are actually disappearing nine patch
blocks. So how we’re going to do that is we are going to put our squares out like this.
And we’ll put one in each corner like this. And in between we’re going to put the white
squares. So we have these backgrounds right here, is going to go here and then they’re
going to go out here like this and down here. Now these we’re cutting a layer cake into
fourths and getting those five inch squares. And then also we have these background squares
here, I mean these print squares here that we’re just going to cut like this. And because
we’re cutting them in half no block is going to touch the other block so it doesn’t matter
what you put next to anything, none of that matters. So you’re going to make a block
that looks like this like a big nine patch. And then what we’re going to do on that
is we’re just going to cut that block in half. So I’m going to lay this out here
and I know that these are five inches and I have a quarter of an inch in the seam so
what I’m really looking at is cutting this at 2 ¼ from the seam edge. Let me turn that
right there. So watch that one quarter. And it should go all the way up and down. So we’re
cutting this. And then we’re laying this at 2 ¼ and we’re cutting it both directions
like this. So that should give you four pieces like this. And what you want to do is you
just want to take these now and you just want to make a stack of these. So that when you’re
ready to put them together, you have a nice big stack of these and we’re going to do
that.
So the magic of this quilt block, what makes this nine patch block really pop is this sashing
in here. So we’ve added this sashing. So to make these sashing blocks, you’re going
to cut a piece of blue that is seven inches by 2 ½ and you’re going to cut a piece
of gray that is seven by 2 ½. You’re going to put, snowball the tops and the bottoms
of these strips. And what I’m going to do is they have to be snowballed before you sew
them together because when these go to the inside. And if they were snowballed to the
outside we could make the block and then snowball the whole thing. But because we’re going
to outside and inside we have to make them one at a time. So you’re going to take your
blue blocks like this and you’re going to need four for each block that you make. And
we should, we have 20 of these nine patch blocks back here. And so I’m going to bring
four of these little 2 ½ inch squares and I’m going to put them on both ends but I’m
going to start with the top side. So here’s my gray ones and you can see so I show you
this because this is that chain piecing where you just go from piece to piece to piece to
piece. And I’ll put some squares on the bottom side of this so you can see how I do
that. Now I generally do a bunch at a time so I work very hard to make sure that they
are going the right way because if I’m doing them I’m either going to sew 40 perfect
or I’m going to sew 40 wrong. And so I look very carefully to make sure that mine are
the same way. So I make my first one and then I put it here. And I look at it and I say,
ok we’re sewing this way and this way. And so it doesn’t matter which way they go but
it matters that your sashings are the same. So on this one I’ve sewn my seam right here
this way. I’m going to sew this one going exactly the same way. So let’s sew four
of these. And I am, you saw that I finger pressed that little half square triangle in
half. You can draw the line or finger press. Or if you’re super good at it or you have
that good diagonal tape you can just use that. I’m just going to eyeball it from corner
to corner. And I’m going to do four of these so I can show you how to make one block. Because
once you can make one block then you know that you can go ahead and make 20 of them.
Alright so here’s my four of my gray, if I can get these apart. And sew corner to corner.
And now I’m just going to cut these apart like this, trim and trim. Trim and trim. And
I’m also going to cut these sides off right here like this. And they should go, again,
before you cut look because they should go this way and this way. Top and bottom exactly
the same. So we’re going to press these open like this. Let me move this out of the
way. And then I can iron a little better because you want to make sure you don’t have any
folds. I had a fold in that seam and you don’t want that. So we’re going to go ahead and
clip these apart and trim off their sides. And then we’re going to sew our blue ones.
Alright, one more. Oh I cut the top but I didn’t cut the bottom of that. Alright I
can do that one later. Just have to look at it real good and not forget what I was doing.
Alright so there’s my fourth. And then we need to do four blue ones for the other side.
So let me grab four of those.
And basically what we’re going to do is we’re going to take our little 2 ½ inch
squares, we’re going to put them at either end and we’re going to sew the exact opposite
way. So now I’m sewing from my outer left corner to the inner right corner. And I’m
looking at this one to make sure that I’m doing that the right way and I am. And I literally
have to do that everytime or I will get it backwards. I kind of make up little mantras
for myself. You know, I’m always like, gray on the left, gray on the left, you know, that
I say to make sure that I don’t get it wrong because I am pretty angley challenged. Alright
now I’ve sewn two of these on the top. I’m going to add my bottom square. And I’m going
to flip these around because it’s easier for me to go that direction. And I’m going
to put this one up here. And I’m going to make sure, again, that I’m sewing the same
direction so I go, start here at the bottom corner and go to the upper corner. And then
one more here. And I’m only going to sew two of these because I have some already made
for you. And obviously if you know to sew them opposites then that’s the whole key
to this little sashing. So we’re trimming this and we’re trimming this and same, same.
Alright so now let’s press some of these open and let’s take a look at what we’ve
got here. So we’ve got our grays and we’re just going to stack them up here like this
and this and this. And then we’ve got our blues. And let me do this other one that I
sewed here. And again we’re just trimming about a quarter of an inch from there. You
can do that with your rotary cutter or your scissor. Either one will work. And we’re
just going to iron that back. Press that back right there. Alright now what we’re going
to do is we’re going to take two of these and we’re going to sew them together. Again
your first one is the one that, you know, you want to follow. So our gray is on the
left and our blue is on the right. And we are going to lay these right together like
this. And we are going to sew right down the side. Now you want to make sure that these
two lines match up here and these two lines match up down here. So we’re going to sew
a quarter of an inch like this. And we are going to sew right down. And this makes our
little sashing block. Let’s press it open so I can show you, the aha moment. There we
are. So this makes our little sashing block right here. And it just comes together cute.
And you’re going to need four of those for each block. Now in the very center of our
block right here is a little four patch. So what I did with that is I took my accent fabric
and I cut it into strips, sewed a gray on one side, a blue on the other. And then I’m
just going to cut these at 2 ½ inch intervals. Now I like to cut before I iron on this. I
think they lay nicer. So I take my little 2 ½ inch ruler and I’m just going to make
a cut. And I’m going to make a cut like this. And then I’m going to finger press
this with my gray at the top on both pieces. So gray at the top. And then when you go to
put them together they will just snug up really nice together. And you can make a little four
patch. Now you’re going to need to make 20 of those, one for the center of each block.
And so we’re just going to sew along here. Let me make sure they’re still lined up
real good. And then we can press that open like this. Alright so now that you have all
your parts, you have your sashing block, you have your four patch and you have your nine
patch blocks all made and cut up. Gosh I’ve made a real mess here. Hang on just a minute.
There we go. Let’s get that all over there. I think we need this one, nope, oop, this
one right here.
So now let me show you how to put together this block because it’s super slick and
it just goes great. So you’re going to grab four of your disappearing nine patch blocks
that you’ve cut up. And we have a stack of different ones over here. And you’re
going to turn them so that the big square is facing the middle. So we’re going to
put this one down here. Let me see if I can find another one. This one and this one. So
this is how this is going to go. And then we’re going to add those sashing blocks
in there. So here’s our sashing block. And we want to put it in here like this so that
this triangle is facing the center. And we’ll put one in the top and we’ll put one in
the bottom like this. And you could sew, like chain piece all your rows of these together
because they just, you know, you’re just going to sew two pieces to either side and
make sure that this inner triangle right here is by the big blocks. That’s kind of my
mantra that I use. Your center sashing is the same except you’re going to turn it
like this and so this block is going to make it so it looks like it’s a square in a square.
And I have one more of these over here. And it’s going to go together just like that.
So these, this row I sew together separately. And these rows out here I sew together all
the time.
Alright so let’s sew this together so we can see how it looks. So I’m going to start
by doing these two rows right here. Alright so what I’m going to do is I’m just going
to sew a quarter of an inch down this block, this side. And now I’m going to add this
other row over here, right here. Again make sure that my big block goes the right direction.
Alright there’s our top row like that. Here’s our bottom row. Again I’m going to kind
of line it out. You know, you’ve got to make sure that you’re going the right way
on all of these. And I know a lot of you are angley challenged like me so these little
tricks that I tell you help because otherwise we end up with that one block that looks all
crazy and wonky and we’re like, what is wrong with this picture? And then finally
you see it. Or maybe you don’t see it until after the whole thing is quilted. That has
happened to me before. So just sew a quarter of an inch down this side. Alright so now
we have these two done. And we’re going to sew this little sashing row together. Now
when I did this, literally I sewed all of these sections together. And then I sewed
all of my sashing rows together because it was easier to remember. And I always turned
so, right here, you know, I was going to sew this together but the gray is at the gray.
And so I always turned it so that it was opposite. And it doesn’t really matter because at
some point it lines again so. But that was just a mental thing that I did because I’m
like that, you know. Just a little crazy. Alright so here we are with this one. Now
we’re going to lay this one on here. So it works for these two that you’re sewing
on. But when you attach it in the middle it lines up with the color. So it really doesn’t
matter. Alrighty. So now we have this center piece ready and we can put our block together.
So we’re going to lay this on here. And these are the parts we’re going to watch
for. So these we’ll want to line up, these seams will want to line up, this center seam
here and those are the ones that line up. Those are the only ones. The rest of them,
there’s nothing that really lines up so we’re just going to start here and sew down
until we hit this seam. Nest it. We’re going to nest this seam. Make the seams go the way
you want because you can always re-iron. And this one and then we sew out to the end. Now
we’re going to add the other half to this. It looks pretty good. So we’re going to
add this piece to the bottom here. Make sure that your big squares are headed toward the
middle and we are going to, there we go. Line that one up, line this one up and then sew
out to the end. Alright.
What I love about this block is what happens when the pieces come together. And the secondary
things that take place. So with this sashing, let me press it so it looks really nice and
over here. There we go. So here’s our block. And look what happens, it makes that center
square around that, a four patch, just pop. And so I was going along and making this quilt
and I made 20 blocks. And this was already such a large quilt so I just stopped and finished
the quilt. But I had leftover fabric so guess what I did? So what I want to show you is,
is if you take these same blocks right here, these are our blocks right here, same but
turn them around like this. And I’m going to put four on either side of this block right
here and I want you to see what happens. Look what happens. All of a sudden you get a star
around that four patch. So I had some extra fabric. I didn’t use my whole layer cake.
So I made a whole other quilt. This is all out of that same one layer cake. And look
how different it looks. Isn’t that fun? I mean it’s just completely different looking
quilt. And it’s just so different and so pretty. And I love it that just by the flip
of a wrist we’ve got a whole new idea and a whole new pattern. So you get a quilt and
a bonus quilt. And we’re calling this one Good Fortune. And those of you who are Jane
Austin fans will know what that means. But for us it was good fortune that we could make
two different designs out of one sashing block. So we hope you enjoyed this tutorial from
the Missouri Star Quilt Company.