You can sew the one of the oldest, sweetest quilt blocks around with my easy photo tutorial. The 9 Patch Block is a beloved favorite of quilters everywhere.
In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make quick work of a whole bunch of nine patch blocks. I stitched up 16 in just a couple hours.
Choose up to 9 different fabrics and cut 9 strips the width of the fabric. My strips are 2 1/2” tall, so my block will be 6′ square finished.
If you want to make a 12’’ quilt block, sew together three 4 1/2’’ strips.
Arrange the strips into 3 sets of 3 strips each.
Hint: place the low value (light colored) strips next to high value (dark colored) strips whenever possible to create more contrast.
Set your stitch length to 1 1/2 to 2 so the stitches will be small.
Sew the strip sets together. Press all of the seams in the same direction.
Stack the three strip sets as neatly as possible and cut off the selvages on one end.
Then sub-cut strips that are as wide as the original strips were tall. Which means mine are 2 1/2” wide. Cut as many as you can. If you are working with 2 1/2” strips like me, you’ll be able to get 16. Which means you will make 16 blocks.
Sew each set of 3 sub-cut strips into a block.
Since you pressed all of the seams in one direction, you’ll be able to nest the seams instead of pinning and sew the blocks together quickly and accurately.
Here are the 16 little blocks I made in just a couple hours – and I was stopping to take pictures!
In thirty more minutes I had them sewn into a little tied blanket.
Sew an organizer covered with pockets that you can hang in your closet! This easy sewing project is great for organizing sewing and craft supplies, fashion accessories, bathroom necessities, gift wrappings, and more. There are pockets on both sides plus a big interior pocket so every bit of space is used. I’ll show you easy step by step instructions for sewing this organizer and putting it to use in your home. Get sew organized today.
Are you sewing a Closet Organizer with me? I hope so! This is Part 2 of our free sewing tutorial for an amazing organizer with a coat hanger inside so you can hang it anywhere.
If you are getting started, make sure you start at Part 1 of the free pattern.
Be a basketmaker! Sure, you can sew, but did you know that you can make amazing baskets too using your sewing machine, some fabric and the same materials that you use for your other projects?
Have you fallen in love with Quilt as You Go yet? It’s a fun technique for quilts, of course, but I’m having lots of fun using it for pouches and tote bags too.
I’m so excited to share with you the pattern for our first mini quilt of 2018… Flora! This beautiful little quilt was designed by the very talented Lauren of Molly & Mama…
At my daughter Chloe’s high school (can you believe my baby started high school???), the lunch lines are so long that she has been skipping lunch! She’s always starving by the time she gets home because she doesn’t want to carry a big lunch bag as well as her heavy backpack – poor girl!
Looking for free table runner patterns? I gathered up all my favorites in one place – here are free quilt patterns for table runners for fall, winter, spring and summer!
I am so in love with the beautiful look of simple patchwork quilts with lots of squares. This is the perfect way to use up fabric scraps like I did, or you can make a beautifully coordinated quilt with pre-cut 2 1/2’’ square fabric pieces that come in mini-charm packs.
I’m also in love with the process. If you feel like quilt making is your escape from the world and sitting down to sew for a few hours makes your troubles fade away… this is the quilt for you!
Sew an easy beautiful apron with this free sewing pattern that only uses one yard of fabric! Whether you are sewing for yourself or for a friend, an apron always comes in handy and makes a great gift. This blog post includes a link to a free template that I digitized for you.
Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂
Caroline Fairbanks is an author and publisher who is passionate about the world of sewing and quilting. You can find her work in books, sewing patterns, magazines, and articles all over the web. She founded and publishes her ideas on the popular sewing website SewCanShe.com.