Once again, I needed a break from the quilt I am working on, and I watched one of Jenny’s Videos.
Jenny shows us to make this block with nine 2.5″ square pcs cut from strips, and I wondered if I could strip it. The answer is “sort of” So once again, I found some ugly fabric [it’s embassassing that I didn’t have to look that hard] and played around.
Bordered 9 patch from a jelly roll for the LBL aka “Little Bit Lazy”
The result is a 10.5″ block which will be 10″ when sewn into a quilt.
Since each strip makes one block, if you do all 42 strips, you can make a 6 row, 7 column quilt which will be at 60″x70″ before borders.
The background requires only 20.5″ per block, so you only need half that amount or 21 strips from 1.5 yards of fabric.
Add 8 more background strips [2 1/4 yards total including background] if you want an inner border with background color, making the quilt now 64″x74″ before the outer border.
There is very little waste – just one pc that can be trimmed to 2.5″ and put aside for a scrappy project. It’s like getting a mini charm pack for free!
*Instructions are per block*
From one print [or jelly roll] strip:
Cut four 6.5″ long pcs, one 2.5″ pc and one 10.5″ long pc [I cut my 6.5″ pieces with it folded so you see 2, but there are 4]
From one of the background strips:
Cut four 2.5″ pcs, and one 10.5″ long pc
Sew the 10.5″ print and background pieces together, and press to the print.
Then trim the end, and subcut into four 2.5″ 2-patch pcs.
Arrange into 9 patch using the lonely print 2.5″ square
Then take 2 of the 2-patch pieces and sew them so the opposites match, making a 4 patch.
Take one of the 2-patch pcs and sew the 2.5″ print square to the side with the background, making a 3 patch that oriented like “print-background-print”.
Take the remaining 2 patch and sew it so the opposites match, making a 6 patch.
Sew the 3 patch to the 6 patch making sure the prints are on all 4 of the outside corners.
The back now looks like this. I supose you could do the swirly thing at the intersections, but I am a little bit lazy, so . . .
Next you want to arrange the two 6.5″ prints on each the side of your 9 patch, and the 4 background squares in the corners.
Then begin sewing the 6.5″ strip to one side of the 9patch
I always try to press to the side with the least number of seams, so that would be toward the 6.5″ strip.
Then sew the 2.5 background squares to one end of the other two 6.5″ prints.
Press these two towards the print to nest when you sew them on to the block.
Repeat for the other 6,5 strip, and the last 2 background pieces, making 3 rows.
Then sew the 3 rows together to finish the block.
I cringed and made two of these blocks to show you the backs. Yes, that means I had 2 of these ugly strips!
Since the pattern is symetrical, when you sew these into a quilt, you should make your odd numbered rows [1,3,5 ect] with the seams pressed out at the top and bottom, then arrange the blocks in the even numbered rows [2,4,6 ect] by turning them 90 degrees [one corner turn] so that those seams will be pressed in at the top and bottom. Then when you sew your rows together, they will nest.
What does one do with 2 Bordered 9 patch blocks made with ugly fabric?
I don’t know yet, but when there’s a call for ugly, I will have the answer.
#LittleBitLazy #Bordered9Patch
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