Disappearing Nine Patch - Math help

ok, I just can't resist.... (somebody had to say it) why would you care about it if it's going to disappear...??

Judy who had wine with dinner before going online

Less than 1/8" under 7", according to my math. I'd never heard of a disappearing nine-patch, so I did a quick google, and what I found suggested that you begin with 3 equal-sized 9-patches, then cut them into quaters. After that... things differ, but one winds up sewing the pieces back together into some final configuration. In your case, you want that to be 12" square, right?

If this is what you're doing, then your final 12" square (144 sq. in.) divided by 3 component 9-squares =3D 48 sq. in. ea. The square root of

48 (to make the original 9-patch squares) is a little less than 7.

So if you started with 7" blocks (after squaring, as described on the sources I read), you should be in the ballpark, + or -.

Doc Smith

You're right. The squares you start with should be 4 2/3".

No matter what size you want your D9P to be, the finished size of your starting 9 patch always needs to be 1/2" larger than the finished size of the final D9P. So if you want your D9P to be 12" finished then the starting

9 patch needs to be 12 1/2" finished. Divide 12 1/2" by 3 and you get 4.17". Add your seam allowances and you get a starting patch of 4.67".

Jeri,

Thanks! That really helps!

Dannielle

Alright! I just did one, I put the original squares at 4 3/4", cause who on earth puts thirds on their rulers? NOBODY! With a scant 1/4" seam allowance and the horizontal and vertical cuts at 6 1/2", once sewn back together this block rocks!

I have decided that this might just be "THE" block for my black and tan quilt. I will make it a different size, however, like start with all 5" blocks and roll on from there. As long as they are all the same, it shouldn't matter.

One of these days I will make a Yellow Brick Road quilt. I swear!

Dannielle

I'm with you, Dannielle. If we were doing one of our Pat on Her Hill's creations, I just might be willing to cut something point oh something - but for the 9-patch? Heck no. Just couldn't matter that much. Today I came across a recipe that called for 2/3 of a teaspoon. Decided a generous heap of one-half ought to do. Has anybody ever even seen a measuring spoon for thirds? Polly

"dbeitzell" Alright! I just did one, I put the original squares at 4

3/4", cause who on earth puts thirds on their rulers? NOBODY! With a scant 1/4" seam allowance and the horizontal and vertical cuts at 6 1/2", once sewn back together this block rocks!

I have decided that this might just be "THE" block for my black and tan quilt. I will make it a different size, however, like start with all 5" blocks and roll on from there. As long as they are all the same, it shouldn't matter.

One of these days I will make a Yellow Brick Road quilt. I swear!

Hi Polly, Not 2/3 tsp, but I have a set for "a smidgen", "a pinch" and "a dash. Never used them, easier to do a shake. Anna Belle

Umm... Nerds do, of course. What you want is an "engineering scale" (or rule) - not an "architectural scale".

's_scaleYou can find them at engineering and/or art supply stores. It's aruler with a triangular cross-section. One of the scales is 30 ft. tothe inch, so one third of an inch is 10' on the scale. DWappropriated one of mine for... get this... QUILTING!Nowadays, it should be easy enough to create & print one out on yourcomputer.

But if your printer isn't accurate enough, (or you're stuck on that desert island your math teacher always warned you about...) there's an old trick I learned in design class that will get the job done.

1. On a piece of paper (or label stock if you plan to stick it on the end of a ruler for future use) draw two parallel vertical lines about

6" long, exactly one inch apart.

1. Near the bottom of the two lines, line your standard ruler up at an angle so that the one inch mark is on the first (left) line, and the

2-1/2" mark is on the second (right) line. Make tick-marks at 1-1/2" and 2".

1. Repeat step 2 near the top of the two lines.
2. Draw vertical lines through the two sets of tick marks.

You now have an inch divided EXACTLY (or as nearly as practical) into thirds. The same method can be used to divide an inch into just about any number of equal parts. Fifths of an inch? - no problem - or use the 50 scale on the engineering scale above. ;-)

Doc Smith

I have the smidgen, pinch, and dash measures too. DH re-measured them all it in terms of the old apothocary measures to make his life easier.

There is nothing like finding that a needed measurement is measured in thirds or further fractions thereof to make me wish the US would either get with the program and go metric, or make greater use of older measures like drams. I have thirds of a cup marked on my one pint pyrex measureing cup, but anything smaller and it is by guess and by golly.

Sometimes when both of us are cooking and making notes on what we are doing at the same time, all the standard measuring tools wind up in use. So DH in particular (because I am meaner (G)) has a few recipes he worked out recorded entirely in gills, drams, grains, scruples, and etc.

NightMist

Pati,

You are tempting me with more variations? You enabler you! I might have to see what kinds of crazy things I can come up with on this one. And look for that book. I don't think I've seen an uneven 9- patch, but my ability to remember the names of more than two or three block patterns is pretty limited too....

Thanks! Dannielle

Judy,

That's a mighty fine question. Unfortunately, I don't have a might fine answer!

Dannielle

Danielle, and Uneven 9-patch is where the 9 units are not all square. Might have a large center square, small corner squares and rectangles as the other 4 pieces. Or a small center square, larger corner squares and rectangles for the other 4. Still "9 parts" but not even in size. Remember, "9-Patch" is as much a "category" designator as anything. There are lots of variations within the category. There are numerous "9-Patch Stars", and so on. Adding "uneven-ness" just adds more possible patterns and variations.

Have Fun, Pati, > Pati,

fwiw, j.

Good to see you Jeanne. Hope your autumn is being nicer than our spring, which has just gone back to being cold and grey.

Lizzy

I've decided that Disappearing Nine Patch is a brain thing. No opinion as to whether it's a 'right brain, left brain' or 'no brain'. I played with it for a few blocks and thought it was big fun. My neighbor tried it and became frazzled/ furious pretty quickly. And thank you Jeanne. I wondered how it would go with just 3 colors and you simply handed to me. Great. Polly

Ok, that's just too much fun! I think I like the simplicity of whole squares instead of HST's, 'cause I'm mostly a simple person, but those are just beautiful! I think you had a good time playing with your EQ too!

Thanks!

Dannielle