Tuesday 5 March 2013

Needlework Tuesday - Disappearing 4 Patch & Variations


Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week.  I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs.  You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post.  Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

A few weeks ago I was visiting some of my regular blogs I follow, and Regina at Regina's Quilts, showed some cute mug rugs she had made.  They were from a technique called 'disappearing 4 patch'.  I found the instructions and shared the link with my mom and another friend.  Well, mom tried it out right away.  I then felt that since I sent her the link, I had better try it as well.  i used the tutorial found at SewWonderful.
 
First step, sew a 4 patch block. 
Cute as described in the tutorial and then re-sew.
 

Like magic, you have a totally new block.  I figured that I needed to make four of them to get a good idea  of how they would look together.  Once I got four completed, I decided that if I had nine, that would be enough for a lap quilt.
 
 
Add a little sashing to deal with all those seams, and a couple of borders to enlarge to quilt.

The top now measures 37 inches square. 




 
 I was on a roll.  Time to move onto the next variation of the disappearing 4 patch.  This one is from the blog What Comes Next?, the Disappearing 4 patch - with a twist.

Again, you start out with a four patch.
Follow the instructions for cutting.

All ready for sewing in the three rows as shown.
The rows are now sewn together.  Check the corners and you can see that you do lose a fair amount of size with this technique.
Finished block is ready for trimming.  I started with four 5 3/4 inch blocks, 11 inches when sewn , and ended up with a 9 3/4 inch block.
 
Kate at Arts and Socks tried this variation. Looks like she had lots of fun.  Visit to see how her's turned out. 


I found one additional variation of a 4 patch block, Pinwheel Disappearing 4 Patch at the blog Welcome Home Farm.  I got carried away with the cutting, but this one starts with two co-ordinated 4 patch blocks, which you slash from corner to corner two times.  Then sew to make two pinwheel blocks.


Follow the tutorial to cut these blocks.  Since my squares started out at 6 1/4 inches, the first block I cut 2 1/2 inches from the centre line and the second I cut 2 inches from the centre.

Same block but a different appearance.  I like the smaller pinwheel in the centre.  Using 6 1/4 inches squares to start and I ended with 10 inch blocks.

Are there more variations of the disappearing 4 patch block?  Leave me a comment with a link and I'll try it out.  I also have plans to try some variations of  the disappearing 9 patch.  oh that is going to be fun.

Tami at Just One More Thing introduced me to Infinity Scarves, one of which she has sewn for her daughter.

Marie at Daisy's Book Journal has started on a very pink project.  It's looking so warm and cuddly.

7 comments:

Tea said...

Very prettily coordinated.

Rikki said...

I find your posts so inspirational and educational, even though, no matter what you say, I will never take up quilting, :). But I do love to work with patterns, that's why I scrapbook (probably the next best thing to quilting).
I haven't done much this week, but my son has a cross-stitch assignment to finish and he is awfully slow (it's a small piece inspired by Mondrian). So I will help him get it done a bit quicker. Otherwise it will be one of those unfinished projects that are sitting around for years and then get thrown away. No way will I let that happen!

Marie said...

Awesome! I haven't looked at the tutorials yet, but I'm amazed that a simple 4-patch can be turned into such wonderful variations.

I love them all!

Tami said...

This is awesome! I pinned it so I can find the instructions again later. Beautiful!






























Kate said...

I had to go and try the middle version, right away. What fun! Thanks for the idea.

Regina said...

You've done some serious research into these blocks. Very nice fabric choices!

What Comes Next? said...

Hi! Just came across this post - thank you for featuring my tutorial! Hope you had fun with it!