Disappearing 4-patch Tutorial

This month's block for the Block Lotto is a disappearing 4-Patch or a 4 to 9-patch. What a cute block! And the red and white color scheme - love! My kids' school colors are red and white and I can just see an adorable, cuddly quilt wrapped around my legs and hiney at hockey games and track meets. I think I need to win this batch (Sophie! Help a sista out!)

This tutorial originally comes from the Sew Wonderful blog - but there are a ton of variations on this block out there. It can be done in a number of different sizes and designs - experiment!

This quilt is also a perfect project for charm packs - this block starts with 5" squares! To make a large quilt - use 2 packs in any number of color combos. With fabric companies now selling charms of their popular solids - the possibilities are endless!

Start with four 5" squares. My colors are red and white to go along with the Block Lotto requirements.

Then, with a scant 1/4" seam, sew these four squares together.

Place your 4-patch on a smaller cutting mat so that you can turn the mat as you make the cuts for the 9-patch:

With a quilting ruler, line up the RIGHT edge so that it's 1" from the center seam:

Cut along the edge:

Turn your mat a quarter turn to make the next cut. Again, line up the RIGHT edge 1" from the center seam. Cut.:

Keep making quarter turns until you have cut four times:

After making all of the cuts, your block will look like this:

I hope I can explain this well-
 To make the 9-patch, start with the VERTICAL CENTER pieces. Flip them so that the bottom piece is now on the top and the top piece is on the bottom. Don' rotate the pieces, just switch places. Do the same with the HORIZONTAL CENTER pieces.

This is what it will look like:

Sew the VERTICAL columns together first:

And then sew the 3 columns together:

This block should measure 8.5" square - trim and square up if needed!

HOW CUTE IS THAT?

And easy, too!

Experiment with different cut widths and colors. This is a great block for beginners or for a quick project for gift giving, use a layer cake for large blocks. 

Have fun!