Ok...I'm trying to sort this out in my mind, but it's just not working. I'm making a D9P for my mom for Christmas (bah, I will be, still in the planning stages, haven't even begun cutting yet...hope it's done in time. Anyway...) The focus print is trees, and I don't want half of them getting flipped upside down in the process...

I was planning to cut all of the strips, sew them and cut for the blocks (so when I cut, it will be three of nine), then sew the three 3's together to get my nine patch...but is there a way to sew the strips so that my focus print doesn't end up upside down when I flip? Or will I have to cut and sew each square individually?

Just thinking out loud here...my top right and bottom left will be the squares I flip for the pattern...I can't sew my strips for three in a row, I have to sew them for three in a column (top to bottom, not left to right), right? So my top strip is right side up for the first column, bottom strip upside down...then the same in the strips for the third column, top upside down, bottom right side up?...so then I'd sew the three together, cut in quarters, and flip the upside down top right so that it's right side up and the same for the bottom left...yes...? Please tell me if I'm thinking this through properly...? :)

When you sew your strips together, have one outside strip with the pattern right side up, and one with the pattern upside down. That way, when you flip, they will both be right side up.
After you cut the strips, layout your block so that the opposite corners face the same way, and the other two to opposite direction. I think you will need three stip sets to get the right layout.
U x D
x z x
D x U
or
D x U
x z x
U x D
Then you would rotate the D's to make them right side up.

If your other fabrics aren't dimensional, can you turn some of your blocks upside down or side ways BEFORE cutting them in 4th's? Then when you rotate them, they will be right. This is assuming that you are using the same fabrics in every block for the quilt.

When I made one, I swapped the northwest block with the southeast block, but didn't turn them at all. Kept my directional prints going the right direction. I just had to be careful when I sewed them back together and then to other blocks to pay attention to the direction the blocks needed to go.I made all the 9 patches, but when I cut them into quadrants and swapped the corner blocks, I sewed them immediately into the new block. But mine was not a scrappy, I only used 3 fabrics.

This should help!

http://blocksnswaps.blogspot.com/200...g-9-patch.html

THANK YOU! How did it not occur to me that I could just switch the blocks and not flip them??? haha When I started planning, I even drew and cut out an example of my block and cut it in quadrants to play with. lol

I'd practice with 9 pieces of paper. Draw your trees and color the others.

You're welcome. I won't tell you how long it took me to figure it out! :mrgreen:

For once I think I had something bookmarked and remembered it! Try looking at this... It helped me an awful lot when I was trying to use a fabric with faces...

http://obsessivelystitching.blogspot...ring-nine.html

May be something like the one above, but thought I'd send it anyway. I'm the kind of person who does better being shown what to do and this really laid it all out for me!

I switch mine, but I don't flip them either.