We have had many discussions here on copyright, I'm a big believer in the concept. There are some designers who wish to put some restrictions on their designs that cannot be enforced by copyright provisions. However, the printed patterns and books are the first place to look.
Where you live (US or other) has bearing, but here is my rough form:
Copyright mostly pertains to the printed materials and directions, the objects we create from those directions are original to us and are largely removed from the restrictions of copyright. Fabrics can be trademarked or copyrighted as well and have other commercial use limitations. While you can certainly copyright your original insights and directions and pictures and drawings on how to make a 9-patch block, that 9-patch block itself is fair game and not covered by copyright.
If you can draw it yourself, you can make it yourself even down to copying someone else's exact fabric selections without violating copyright. Once you make it for yourself, you can give that to anyone you please. For most of us quilters, the discussion of whether or not it is commercial usage doesn't count. You can certainly sell a quilt you intended to keep for instance.
The question comes when is it commercial, and that is partly by number of times use and partly by intent. If you were, for example, use something clearly designed by someone like the Labyrinth Walk or Elizabeth Hartman designs, and you wanted to make dozens of them to sell, then yes -- you need to receive authorization and they should receive credit plus any royalties/fees due. For me, I'm an advanced pattern drafter and I drew both of those out myself, under fair use I could make them, but I went ahead and bought both of them so that I who believes in artists recognition would have a clean conscious even just making them fully for personal use.
If you are using the creation construction techniques of a Bargello quilt in particular colors, then no... unless there was something truly special about the design you are recreating, it's just a technique and some colors and it counts as original to you, just a technique/style.
There is practically nothing that can be really copyrighted using traditional blocks as a starting point. Again, you can put your own spin on a pattern and can copyright those directions.
Last edited by Iceblossom; 11-15-2020 at 02:13 PM.