Disappearing 9 Patch Quilt Part #1

Before we get started let me say I am not a great quilter. I don't claim to be and have not been doing this very long, so bare with me. I will share with you how I will be making this quick easy quilt. Also, I will be breaking it down into parts so that if you want to quilt along you can take your time and not have to hurry. I will try to post a part once a week for as long as it takes. :) PLEASE if I am not clear or if you are a skilled quilter and want to add an easier way please post on here or I will link up to you on your blog OR I will get one of those linky things for all of you to link if you want to post your progress.

For this project I am using 5 inch squares. I learned that if you buy a charm pack of fabric that it normally contains 30-40 coordinating fabrics of a certain line that a company makes. If you want to start small you can certainly use one charm pack or cut your own squares. I want a lap size quilt so I am using 80 precut squares I bought on Ebay a few years back. YEAH YEAH I know... HOARDER... For this project I needed to cut 10 more squares from, get this, the fabric I just bought from Goodwill. YEAH really I'm cutting it. LOL. I've decided on blues for the theme.



This is the fabric I added...



I'm not sure how this is going to work, but we are going to give it a try... I think it may work better with more selection and colors. Oh well, you know me I post things that don't always turn out how I want.

First thing I did is lay out my fabric into blocks of nine squares. I am anal OK OCD when it comes to pattern and design. I have a hard time just putting blocks wherever. They have to have a pattern to me. But for those of you who can just put em down and leave them go ahead. I worked on mine for a few hours because I kept messing up the pattern I had going. (shaking my head) Seriously this shouldn't take that long. LOL. I made 10 blocks of 9 patches each.



Close up...



Alright ready to move on? Next step is to sew together each block of 9 patches. Always use a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I know on my machine that the line beside my presser foot is the 1/4 inch mark.



I, personally, sew my blocks together by rows across. Three blocks in each row. Yes, it uses more thread that way, but for me it works.



I then take that row to the ironing board and press the seams and blocks. The seams should be pressed to one side. You can see in the picture they are pressed to the outside. The row underneath should be pressed in the opposite direction, both edges pressed inward, so that the seam allowances aren't big and bulky. Pin two rows together as shown and stitch them together. Try very hard to line up your seams. Then add the third row.



It should look like this in the end.



I think this is a great stopping point. I hope my directions are clear. If they aren't please feel free to post here or email me. I'm sure you aren't the only one with that question. Good luck and have fun. I can't wait to see your creations. If you are sewing along and don't have a blog or even if you do please email me your pictures. I'd LOVE to post them on here for everyone to see!!!!