Stash Bee Hive #3 - simple 9 patch block for Helen M tutorial

Hello fellow beehive members

Happy New Year to you all and here's to an amazing Stash Bee Hive 3 year of making blocks and friends.

I am Helen and I am your Hive Leader this year and I am first cab off the rank for my quilt tutorial. I have been quilting off and on 1998 to 2011 (I attended a quilting class making a sampler quilt using scissors and measuring tape to hand cut blocks and then hand sew them all together - I still have that quilt and I marvel at my ability to complete a quilt by hand and it look well made. The colours I chose are very 1990's I am afraid. I will pop a photo of it in chat later).

Then in 2011 I attended Quilt Festival in Houston and I fell for quilting hook line and sinker since then and it occupies my hobby life fully with a bit of knitting and embroidery/cross stitch on the side.

I live in New Zealand and it is currently summer so it is warm and sunny here.

I would like you to make me blue and white blocks this year. And I have picked a very simple tutorial that will take way less than an hour to complete 2 blocks out of 6 strips of fabric (this includes selecting fabric time).

The blocks are a pair of simple 9 patches 9.5 inch square unfinished (9 inch square finished in the quilt).

Here is a link to a tutorial from 2014 prepared by Red Pepper Quilts. Rita doesn't seem to be around anymore but she was a prolific scrap quilter and made quilts out of small pieces, for sale. She was amazing and made the most beautiful quilts. She also showcased new lines of fabric every Sunday. What an inspiration she was.

https://www.redpepperquilts.com/2014/10/nine-patch-checkerboard-quilt-tutorial.html

Please follow this tutorial and my photos below. Her tutorial is beautifully written with photos far superior to mine. The thing I'd like you all to pay close attention to is her pressing instructions. I am a press a seam open kind of gal but I would like you all to follow her "to the side method" so that my quilt top goes together nicely - your blocks will look lovely and crisp as well, using her pressing method.

Please use a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance due to the pressing to the side method.

Can I please also ask you to use white thread for sewing the block so that the thread does not show through the white fabric.

Fabric Pull

Here is my fabric pull. I would like blue please - light blue, mid-blue, dark blue. Please don't go too turquoise, teal, jade or purple - mostly blue. There can be other coloured motifs on the fabric but please mostly blue. This was part of a deep dive into everything blue by Alison Glass.

Can the white please be clear crisp white - not cream or off white. There can be motifs on the fabric but the fabric needs to read as white.

Cutting the Fabric

Choose one blue fabric and one white fabric.

Cut 3 strips from each fabric 3.5 inches wide and 11.5 inches long. (I added half an inch to the suggested length in Rita's tutorial for wriggle room. Scroll down the tutorial towards the bottom for her cutting instructions for different sized blocks).

My cut pieces laid out for sewing along the long edge.

Sewing the Strips

Sew two blue and one white strips together on the long edge alternating the colours and sew two white and one blue strips together along the long edge alternating the colours. 

The three strips sewn together.

Sewn together strips pressed as per Rita's instructions.

These blocks should measure 9.5 inch high by 11.5 wide. Lay your ruler on the block to check as per this photo. If it is not this size please check your seam allowance.

The middle strip should measure 3 inches and the outer strips should measure 3.25 inches when sewn in.

Cutting the Sewn Strips

The strips sewn together now need to be cut into 3.5 inch by 9.5 inch strips as per the photo.

I recommend squaring up one edge and then cut across realigning each time. The strip on the right edge will be excess and allows for re-squaring as you go. Use the lines on the ruler against the lines in the block where the colour changes to line up.

Sewing the Cut Strips Together

Layout your fabric alternating to make 2 blocks.

The seams at the back should nest nicely giving lovely crisp blocks.

Please press as per Rita's tutorial so that when all the blocks are sewn together, they will nest nicely.

Here are my 2 completed blocks using the 2 fabrics.

And here are some more I made very quickly using other blue and white fabric but also to show how they will alternate in the quilt.

I think it will make an amazing quilt. The blocks are 9.5 inches square unfinished.

Hope this all makes sense - if you have any questions please let me know.