6. Quilt a 9 Patch Block with Straight Lines

It’s quilting time! Today we’re getting a bit of review in by quilting straight lines in one of our 9 patch blocks:

free motion quilting | Leah Day
Last month we quilted Gridlines in a 4 patch block and many quilters commented that this was the easiest quilting design for them so far. So if you found gridlines easy, this quilting design should be a walk in the park!
Are you wanting to jump into the fun of this quilt along? Click here to pick up a copy of the Building Blocks Quilt Pattern to get started! It’s definitely not to late to join in!

free motion quilting | Leah Day

NEW! This block design is now available in a quilting stencil from Quilting Creations International. Use the stencil to easily mark the design on plain fabric, your block, or another fun quilt you’re working on! Click here to find the 8 inch stencil compatible with the Building Blocks Quilt.

When it comes to this particular block, the hardest part for me was figuring out a path that would knock out the lines with the least amount of travel stitching. Some of the blocks we stitch this year will be challenging in this way, and the best thing to do is knock out a few lines at a time, stop and take a look at where you want to go next.
This block can also be quilted in two different ways – you can either stitch the 9 patch block area in the ditch, or you can ignore those ditch lines completely. I choose to stitch those lines, but Josh ignored them. You can see the difference on the backs of our finished blocks:
free motion quilting | Leah Day
free motion quilting | Leah Day
Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to quilt this block, or any of the blocks we’re working on this year!
If you want to change up the design, or ignore some lines of quilting, that is just fine! Feel free to be as creative as you like with this project.
My one extra piece of advice in the video is important – give yourself plenty of time to quilt this. I was feeling pulled in all directions the day I filmed and my quilting suffered because of it.

This block should only take 20 minutes at the most to quilt, but if you feel rushed, it’s not going to be a fun time.

So try to find a peaceful time of the day where you don’t have a mile long to-do list hanging over your head and enjoy the process. Make sure to swing by again tomorrow so you can check out Josh’s block too!
Let’s go quilt,
Leah Day

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

2 Responses

  1. ileneharris says:

    Also, I noticed that some of the outside line didn't get quilted by you and Josh – kind of like "missing teeth". Is this because you don't need to worry about it since it will be covered by binding at the end?

  2. Leah Day says:

    Hi Ilene – I mentioned this at the end of the video. No, I don't think it's necessary to quilt around the outside edge an extra time. We will completely cover this edge with binding, so it won't be noticeable. If you're worried about it, by all means, quilt it!

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