9 Patch Slice and Dice Part 2

Have some fun slicing up your 9 patch blocks, put them up on your design wall and just see what happens!  Because everything I do is not perfect (therefore a "calamity"), I try my darnedest to turn a boo boo into something that works.  Just throw out directions, they're only a suggestion anyways!





 In this quilt block I used some batik charm square and pared them up with a warm bright cotton star print fabric.  The effect is like a ray of sunshine in the morning, maybe a bit like the beach, but a gal in Montana can dream can't she?





Once you get your 9 patch block put together, fold your block in half and press a little fold into each side of the block to help you make a perfect slice in half.  I tried to use my ruler, but I just fussed too much due to imperfect seams lines and decided to just cut the things in half the best way I could.  Whatever works for you! 

Hope you get the picture :)








Next, take your prizes over to your ironing board and make another fold crease in the center.  You'll end up with 4 equal blocks, each with one large square, one small square and 2 rectangles.  But before I let you go, I tried goofing around with my half cut blocks on the design wall............

It never fails, I always like what I see, just imagine the possibilities! 

Ok, you may notice that the design wall in the background of these pics looks very happy and has the faint shadow of some bold flowers.  I get vinyl tablecloths on sale, especially at the end of a season, and pin them up on the wall backwards so the flannel side is ready for my blocks to stick, works great.



Now just in case you were thinking I can count, I must share that I had an accident and mixed up my 9 patch squares.  It turned out that I made some with the background color in the center and at the corners, rather than the batiks.  Not to worry.  I decided this could be another cool design, so I finished making 25% of the blocks with the background in the middle, and the rest of the blocks had the batik in the middle.

Once I put the blocks up on the wall, I decided on the design you see in the last picture.  You can mix your blocks up anyway you want, in fact, I've seen these blocks turn out looking completely different than what you see here.  I added a border and wa la (not sure that's a word).

Signing off for now,

The Calamity Quilter,
Somewhere close to a seam ripper in Red Lodge, Montana