Nine Patch Mini Quilt Tutorial

This mini quilt is perfect for using precuts – 5″ or 2 1/2″ squares – to make a scrappy patchwork table topper. Or pull out some of your favorite leftover red and pink scraps for a similar look.

I received a cute little Valentines charm pack from my friend Melissa of Happy Quilting.  As I thought about what I would like to make with it, I decided to replicate this little mini-quilt/table-topper that I made last fall. I loved having a little zing of color on my normally ‘blah’ boring kitchen table.

Thanks to the generosity of the Fat Quarter Shop I was able to make a festive Valentines mini to festoon my kitchen table for February. (Try saying that 5 times fast.)  And today I’ll share how I did it. Pretty simple – definitely not rocket science, but it’s always nice when someone else does the figuring, right?

In addition to the Charm Pack I used ¼ yard of sashing fabric, ¼ yard for binding and 2/3 yard for backing. You will only need 21 squares for the pieced blocks, which means a couple of things: 1) you could make another set of blocks=another mini quilt for a friend or 2) you could use your leftover squares to piece a back or as a scrappy binding. So many options. (You could also substitute a mini 2 1/2″ charm pack.)

1. Take 21 of your 5″ charm squares and cut them into quarters = (4) 2½” squares.

 2. Mix-up the 2½” squares and lay them out into 9 sets of 9 squares.  Sew each set of squares into 3 rows of 3 squares each using a scant ¼” seam allowance.

 3. Press the seams toward the outside on the top and bottom row. Press the seams toward the inside square on the middle row. This will help in matching up all those little square points.

 4.  Sew 9-patch rows together. Seams pressed to opposite sides will butt up against each other, matching the square points at the corners.

6. Press from the front.  Here is what the pressed back will look like.  Make 8 more blocks using the same method.

 7.  From sashing fabric cut 5 strips 1¾” wide x the width of the fabric. From one of those strips, sub cut into (6) 1¾” x 6½” pieces.  Sew strips between the 3 sets of 3 nine-patch blocks.  Press seams toward the sashing strips.

 8.  From 2 of the remaining sashing strips carefully cut (2) 1¾” x 21″ sashing strips. (If you cut carefully, you should be able to get (2) 21″ strips out of a 1¾” x width-of-fabric strip.)  Cutting the sashing to the correct size, rather than just sewing it on and trimming the end, will help your mini quilt stay square. Pin the strips to the the sets of 3 blocks.  Find the center of your strip (10½”) and the center of your set of blocks. Pin at the center point and then pin at either end of the strip/set of blocks.  Then evenly space the rest of the pins along the edge to be sewn. (If you need help visualizing this technique, go here and scroll down to the part about pinning.)

 9. Sew sashing strips as shown at the top and bottom and between the three rows.  Press toward the sashing.

10. From your remaining sashing strips cut (2) 1¾” x 23½” strips for the final borders on the quilt. Use the same method as above for pinning on the strips before sewing to help keep your quilt square.  Sew using ¼” seam allowance. Press seams toward the sashing strips

11.  After carefully pressing quilt top and backing fabric (use at least a 25″ square piece of backing”) pin-baste the back, batting, and quilt top together.  (For more on quilt basting go here.)

12.  I chose to machine quilt my mini and I used this binding method.

And there you have a quick little mini.  I love how the simplicity of this quilt shows off the fabrics. It’s a quick project and using a charm pack is a simple way to get a variety of prints.

It would be very simple to make a larger version. To make  4 blocks by 4 blocks using a single Charm pack as well.  You would need 36 charms for 16 finished blocks, 5/8 yard sashing, 1/4 yard binding and a yard for backing.

Thanks again to Melissa for inspiring me to make something fun and thanks to those of you who stopped by. Happy Hearts to you.