The nine-patch is where most quilters start: nine squares, three rows and your first perfectly matched intersection.
Supplies
- 2 fat quarters of quilting cotton: 1 dark, 1 light
- Rotary cutter, cutting mat and 6″ × 24″ acrylic ruler
- Sewing machine with a ¼″ foot
- Iron and pins
Quilting terms
| RST | right sides together |
| SA | seam allowance (¼″) |
| HST | half-square triangle |
| FQ | fat quarter (18″ × 22″) |
| WOF | width of fabric |
| Press | iron up and down, no sliding |
Instructions
Tick each step when you finish it: the page remembers where you stopped.
- Cut Cut five 3½″ squares from the dark fabric and four 3½″ squares from the light fabric.
- Lay out Arrange in 3 rows of 3, alternating: dark, light, dark / light, dark, light / dark, light, dark.
- Sew rows Sew the squares of each row RST with a ¼″ SA. Chain-piece to save thread.
- Press Press rows 1 and 3 toward the dark squares and row 2 toward the light squares, so the seams nest.
- Join rows Pin at each intersection with seams butted together, then sew the 3 rows RST with a ¼″ SA. Press the long seams open or to one side.
- Check Measure: the block should be 9½″ unfinished (9″ once sewn into a quilt). Trim evenly if needed.
Tip: Sew a test seam on two scraps and measure it. If the sewn piece is not exactly 1″ wide from two 1½″ strips, adjust your needle position.
