Hive 4 - October Tutorial - Disappearing Nine Patch for Laurie

Hello, my name is Laurie and I am happy to be a part of this group and have my turn as Queen bee!  I love the nine patch block and with this unique twist we will have block variations very quickly.  Here is a tutorial for a disappearing nine patch block to show the technique and to help get you started on this month's block: 

Disappearing Nine Patch tutorial

Here is my practice block:

Fabric Selection:

I'm asking for tropical sunset look - Red, Pinks, Orange, Yellow as my main colorway.  I love batiks so that's what I used but if not in your stash any bright vibrant fabric in those colorways will do.  Please no novelty or holiday fabric.  For my block I started with 5 inch charm squares since I'm an avid collector of pre-cuts but please dive into your stash also. 

Let's get started:  Cut fabric into 5 inch squares or use 5 inch charm squares.

Step 1: Create a nine-patch block with the 5-inch squares.  Choose 5 dark fabrics and 4 lighter fabrics.  

If you have nine different fabrics to use in this block, that works best but if you need to repeat a fabric, that's ok too.

Use dark colors for 4 outer squares and the middle square. 

Sew your block with 1/4-inch seams. First sew blocks into rows, then sew rows together.

 

Step 2: Cut the 9-patch block in both directions down the center (7 inches from each side) to make four squares.

Step 3: Rotate the top right square and bottom left square 180 degrees and sew the blocks together.  You can now see a diagonal diamond chain pattern through the block and your nine patch has "disappeared".

A final note - PLEASE DON'T TRIM your blocks. If all has gone according to plan you should have a block that is 13.5 inches square but we all know how that goes!  I'll square everything up later.  Thanks everyone.