Putting Together a Simple 9 Patch Quilt

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Have you ever wanted to quilt? Learn how to put together a Simple Patch Quilt with this simple tutorial. This is a perfect project for you and your kids to work on together!

Have you ever wanted to quilt? Learn how to put together a Simple Patch Quilt with this simple tutorial. This is a perfect project for you and your kids to work on together! #quilting #9patchquilt #patchquilt #simplesewingprojects #freepattern

Learning to Quilt

Enjoy a guest post today all about quilting from Allyson! ~ M

As winter arrives and the cold settles in, one more arrival speaks to the rapidly approaching holidays: the craft bucket. Out comes the big blue bucket of quilting materials, threads, cutters, yarn and knitting needles, and many other goodies. While our family works on crafts year-round, as winter rolls in we spend almost every evening enjoying some craft or another over a cup of hot tea.

One of the great things about crafts is that you can involve your children in them! Homemade and handmade items are great as holiday gifts, and I’ve yet to find a grandmother who doesn’t melt over the (somewhat sloppy looking) gift of their grandchild’s first pillow or 9-square quilt patch. Crafts can give so much more, though!

For the home-schooling parent (or the after-schooler, like myself), quilting, sewing and cross-stitch become lessons in art, color selection, design, following directions, and most importantly (to me), math. Of course, you don’t have to tell the little ones that; let them enjoy it as the simple craft it is.

Quilting is a great teacher for children. It encourages them to learn complementary colors, practical mathematics, and a lot of hand-eye coordination. Sewing, in general, helps the development of hand-eye coordination, small-item manipulation, and is a gentle introduction to what sharp things can do to your fingers if you’re not careful. Cross stitch, too, works on all those things as well as the detailed following of instructions and learning about maps and keys.

I like to read parts of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series to my children before we work on quilting so that they understand a bit of the history of what they’re doing. They also get a deeper understanding of how pervasive sewing used to be, as Laura complains to her sister about her 9-square patch. It links the present to the past in a way that even very young ones can touch and feel.

–New to sewing? Check out my 7 Sewing Must-Haves List before you get started!

Simple Patch Quilt

Quilting is a simple craft that any adult can do, and most children can also with a bit of help from mom or dad. When I work with our two, who are seven-year-old twins, I cut out the squares for them because we have a rotary cutter that is very sharp and prone to biting people who aren’t paying full attention. I let them pick out two fabrics that they like, and we cut out nine squares – five of one color and four of another. I tend to keep our squares about 4 inches square because they’re big enough for smaller hands to handle, and small enough that you end up with a patch that has many possible uses.

–Looking for inexpensive fabric? Here are some ideas on Where to Buy or Find Cheap Fabric.

Iron the squares so they are very flat, then sort them into piles. Each pile should be one row of the quilt top. For instance, if you are making a yellow and blue quilt, then you’d make a pile of the pieces for the first row: yellow, blue and yellow. Then you make a second pile that will be blue, yellow and blue. The third pile will be a repeat of the first.

Pick a pile of squares to start with and place the right sides of two squares together. Pin them so they are very straight. Now sew those two pieces together with a sewing machine or by hand. Children should sew by hand, but teens and tweens might try the sewing machine if you have one. When the first two pieces are together, add the third (so that you’re making a strip of yellow, blue, yellow, for example) and stitch that in place.

You should end up with a single row of three squares. Repeat this process for the next two rows.

Lay out your three rows of squares, and then iron them. You want to iron the seams on the back so they lay to one side or the other. I generally iron mine out from the middle. Use the steam setting on your iron to make certain the seams are as flat as possible.

Pin together two of your rows so the contrasting colors form a checkerboard effect. Sew these together, again by hand or machine. Add the third row and pin, then sew that into place. You should end up with a nine-square piece. Iron it as you did with the other seams so that it lays out flat.

Your nine square patch is now done! It can be incorporated into a larger quilt, made into a blanket for a doll or stuffed animal, or even turned into a pillow. Don’t worry about the little imperfections. They are what makes your gift unique. If you take a look at very old quilts from the pioneer days, you’ll find all sorts of puckers and pulls, and those quilts are loved and cherished.

Cross-stitching

Cross stitch is another fun project that can occupy children and produce some very personal gifts. There are beginner kits that come with the pattern stamped onto a bit of fabric, for those who are brand new to cross-stitching. There are also hundreds of simple, small projects to be found online and in stores like Michael’s and Joann’s Fabrics that include all the threads, fabric, and even a needle to go along with them.

The concept behind cross stitch is very simple. On a piece of Aida cloth, which has regular holes in it at various sizes, you make tiny x’s to create a pattern. Some patterns require a variety of different colored threads, and others are all one color. Some are simple and others more complex. There’s something for everyone, including some large holed plastic versions for small children to practice on with plastic needles and yarn.

There are designs for everyone. The two beginner kits I picked up for our daughter are of a dolphin swimming and a kitty cat with a flower. She’s worked diligently on these projects for a week now, putting a half hour or more per day into them. I’m currently making my way through a single color design that’s a heart full of reindeer and snowflakes, which will become a present for a family member.

None of these projects need to cost much at all. Cross stitch threads run about $0.35 per skein, and you can often find boxed deals that have several colors in them. Thread for quilting costs between $3.00 and $6.00 per spool, depending on the size, color, and quality you choose. Fabrics can be expensive if you buy new ones, but there’s no requirement to go out and buy anything. Recycle old blankets or tee-shirts into quilt pieces. Older curtains can also be cut up, or sheets and pillowcases that have become worn in places. If you don’t have anything at home, consider visiting the Salvation Army store nearest you, or any other second-hand store or church tag sale, where you can pick up sheets and old clothing for cheap. You can also order fabrics online at Fabric.com.  The best part about it is that your designs are limited only by your imagination!

Ready for another sewing project? Here are some free patterns you might enjoy:

Simple Sewing Pattern for a Christmas Stocking

Snowman Pot Holder Sewing Pattern

Little Sewing Projects You Can Do in Your Spare Time

45+ Free Simple Sewing Patterns

Find more Crafts and Homemade Gift Ideas!

Have you ever made a Simple Patch Quilt? 

Allyson is an author, and mother to her family. She lives on an acre or so of land in southern NH, and is in the process of bringing her homestead to life. You can follow her homesteading adventures at: Our Freehold.

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This Simple Patch Quilt was originally published on Little House Living in December 2012. It has been updated as of December 2019.

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12 Comments

  1. I am a quilter. Just a hint. You are doing more work than necessary in your stitching. you don’t need to back stitch to start or finish. Just let the whole piece of fabric run through your machine. Once one piece is through keep it there and put the next piece that you want to sew through the machine. By the time you are done you will have a long chain of sewn pieces. They will not come unsewn. Just clip the pieces apart. Simple and less time consuming and less thread consuming.

    1. Your comment is true about not having to back stitch. I have made a few quilts and I am now in the process of making a jean quilt. The reason I back stitch on each square is because I don’t trust the stitches to stay. My first quilt that I made came apart in the middle and I had a real problem fixing it. I guess what I am saying is I don’t trust myself and my sewing. 🙂 I think as I continue to make quilts I might relax. 🙂

  2. Thanks Michelle! I’ve seen people do that a lot, but I always worry the pieces will come apart. I’m new to quilting (well, I’ve been doing it for several years but only started doing it on the machine a couple of months ago) and to sewing in general, and I figured it was easier to go overkill than not do enough and have it unravel. LOL!

  3. Great tutorial… Would you consider a ‘part 2’ or a follow-up post with directions for the batting, backing, and edging? I’m sure I’m not even using the right words, lol!

  4. Do you back your quilts with flannel or “percale” And, do you hand stitch the quilt or “tie” it? Are the children also involved in this part of the process?

  5. About 18 years ago, I cut out enough squares to make 2 twin bed quilts for my daughters, and got about half of one pieced together.. and then my life took a severe turn and they’ve just been sitting there ever since.
    My girls are all grown up now & I think that Im going to make them into 3 lap quilts for my X husbands nieces that Im still close to instead. The material from the squares all came from their great grandmother & her sisters to start with.. so I thought one of these days, Im gonna finish them..

    My sewing machine has been calling my name lately.. I bought material to make my 4 year old granddaughter a doll her own size.. and thats as far as I’ve gotten. Maybe I’ll get to both of these projects soon. 😉

  6. I love quilting. I don’t let my daughter use the rotary cutter, either. She’s six. I’m a grown up and I still nearly cut the end of my finger off with one. I trace a square template onto the wrong side of fabric for her and let her practice her cutting skills.

  7. Hello all! I’m sorry, I did not realize people had written things here! I actually haven’t gotten to the backing part of the quilt I’m working on yet, mostly because I’d been going full tilt on skirts I was making as Christmas gifts. 🙂 I have a simple dress to make and a couple other things and then I might be able to get back to the quilting! If I do, I’ll have to pop over and give people a quickie tutorial!