9-patch frustration
 

I've been quilting for several years, so in my mind still a relatively new quilter. But you would think that I could follow the pattern for a simple 9-patch.....not the case....I've sewn so many of them backwards, that I've quit for the day. There are 110 of the 9-patches, but geez....It isn't difficult, just tedious piecing. Can't figure out why I am having such a bad day. Just had to vent to somebody that understands my frustration.

Maybe tomorrow will go better?

I am assuming you are making a 9 match from 9 different fabrics, and they should all be in the same location for each block.....then you sew, cut, turn, sew.....I can appreciate and feel your frustration.......May I suggest you make 2 guides, they can be simple drawn on paper with pieces of the fabric pined on. The first guide of the original layout.....the just make a sketch of the second layout and put pieces of the fabric in each square....now you have something visual to look at during the assembly....I can totally understand how you feel...but there is a solution and how to make it easier....:p

Sounds like my day. I made a handbag which I really like, but when I started putting things into it, it sounded all crinkly inside. I finally figured it out. The fusible interfacing I thought I had used was actually Steam-A-Seam lite and I never took the paper off after ironing it onto the pocket fabric. Duh!! That ended my sewing for the day!

Sometimes ya just gotta back away! ;)

Oh I so totally agree....there are just days when the brain refuses to work at all....
those are times to go sit down get something to drink, tea, coffee, gin....whatever, put your feet up and close your eyes and just say....Tomorrow is another day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

I feel your pain! Last month, I took, what I thought, was a half-done disappearing nine patch to a retreat. I was very confident I would be done within a day, and be able to move on with something else. I had such a hard time, cutting and turning and making sashing, that I finally gave up after working on it most of the weekend. Last night, I pulled it out and everything looked so easy. I don't know what my problem was expect maybe overload.

When I do something repetitive (like the many 9-patches), I have a problem keeping things straight.

I take a piece of graph paper and make a block where the patches are at least 1/2" bigger than the cut size.. If the patches are all alike, I label with the color, if not I number the patches in the block. I label the top, bottom, right and left of the paper block on the paper outside of the block. I make piles of cut patches to correspond with the numbers of the patches on the paper block. I put the stack of patches on top of the paper block with the top of the block away from me. When I pick up two pieces, I put a pin close to the seam I am supposed to be sewing. I do one block at a time.

Hope this helps -- it helps me to keep things straight.

Keeping things organized can be a big problem. Once you get your rhythm the blocks will go together easier. Do you have a small cookie sheet that you can stack the different squares on?
Sue

keep organised!!!!!-for a DP9patch-i made a prototype set to work from as lots of squares had embroideries they need to be orientated correctly--i still have ducks swimming in the sky?????--some days my sewing brain will not wake up with my body so i do something else

Somedays nothing works so hopefully tomorrow will be better.

If there are 110 9 patches I am betting they are itty bitty, correct?? I am on my 253rd 4 patch on point and going bonkers. I'm saving the 9 patches for last as I figured they would be easier. This is a quilt of shear endurance!!!

The 9-patches are only 3 color, green, tan, cream. But that is where the problem is...I think....LOL. the cream and the tan are pretty close in shades when not under the light and I am guessing the that I just mix them up. I have 6 to fix this morning to finish up what I need for the blocks (18 blocks-4 per block), the remainder are for the setting triangles and those are gonna wait till I need them!

I am having a heck of a time getting some HSTs sewn in the right direction. tonight will be the 3rd time I have sewn them. I am going to sew the other strips together, rip these apart and re-sew one at a time. I'm also having a problem trying to match a slanted seam with straight seam to make a wonky star. I will not be making this pattern again.

May help if you make stacks of the different colors.

I hope your day is better tomorrow.

Yipee! It's NOT just me--other people have crazy sewing days, too. Thanks for letting me know! I feel better already. Better luck tomorrow.

Hang in there! A fresh pair of eyes after a rest will hopefully help you see where you are. Organization is surely a help.

I was sewing strips together in a certain order and thought I did a great job of keeping things straight till I started ironing them all. I must of had to rip 8 apart and I hate taking things apart! Take a break from it and I also agree with Debrahlee suggestions .

Let's blame the mass weather of late

I spent the better part of yesterday chatting it up with "Jack the Ripper" and it was not a friendly conversation. I did battle all day with 8 sections of a PP block, and I am NOT a newcomer to paper piecing either, but it just wasn't coming together right. The sections are done and two are not matching well, but, oh well, I am not ripping and re-sewing again. So, today, I will sew the four main blocks together and let the clippings fall where they may. Life is too short.

If it is the same block repeatedly, you could strip piece and that would eliminate some of the pain. For example, if the top row is A-B-A, and the finished block is 9", you would cut a 3-1/2",WOF strip of fabric for each piece. Then sew the three strips together in order. Press carefully then cut into 3-1/2" crosswise pieces. The top row is then done. Follow suit for the next two rows of the block. In my opinion, this is quicker and thus eliminates a lot of the tedium.

Good luck,
Laurie

I know how you are feeling, just last week I posted on here aboout cutting my Strip Search all the same way. Some things just happen. Hope today is a better quilting day.

A rose is a rose is a Rose by any other name, and nothing in life is ever as simple as it seems. Keep sewing. You'll get it right eventually!
Karen

Nine patch is my favorite! Tomorrow (or the next day or the next) will be better!! Good luck and hope we see your results!

Some days just go like that. Tomorrow will be better.

If the cream and tan are close, what about not fussing over it and just interchange them? It could make for some great secondary patterns. Do you have a picture of some of it or the final (hoped for) quilt so we could see it? I'm intrigued.

Sometimes walking away for a while helps alot. I do that when I become to up tight over the way things aren't going.

I too have to put a pin on the side to be sewn!I have made too many pinwheel blocks going the wrong way-ends up a 4 patch instead-so I had to do something to show the right way.(still made a few 4 patches that weren't found in time lol) I do the strip piecing way when doing 9 patches much easier and faster. And like everyone else I give it a rest until brain works again.

If not every patch is different, use strips to make them. You will need 2 sets: one set of strips using 2 colors: A,B, A;
a second set should use the same colors but in different sequence B, A, B. Sew them, press them, and then slice across each strip to make the size squares you need. Sew them together then, using ABA, BAB, ABA. The next block should be BAB, ABA, BAB. Hope this makes sense.

If you do a repeat of the same colors/fabrics, you could lay them all out in piles. Then take 2 piles and sew those two fabrics together, always putting the same one on the top. Then add the third fabric to the same side of that pile. Repeat for row 2 and row 3. There is more than one way to skin a cat (or sew a 9-patch). lol

I think we all have one of those days now and again.

I feel your pain! I was working on a 9 patch today and had all kinds of problems. It was so bad that I was thinking about giving my 1.5" stamps away. If I can't line up a 9 patch, how will I ever do 1.5" stamps. :shock:

I feel your pain too. I think this happens to all of us from time to time. I'm looking forward to seeing it when you finish. Good luck with it.

It happens to all of us sometimes, I think. I almost always have to lay out the pieces, take a picture of them the way I intend to sew them and then have that picture up on my laptop screen near the sewing machine so that I can keep track. As others mentioned, I have to put a pin in the seam I intend to sew before I carry the pieces to the machine, and I have to sew them in a ritual order. Sometimes I mess up in spite of all this. My short term memory is shot, and I have no attention span. I've been like this at least since my late 20's, which is, shall we say, a lot of years of practice in trying to avoid unintended sewing results. Tomorrow will surely be better for you!