Adventures in Quilt Making, Part 1 - 9 Patch

I started taking a quilting class last Wednesday! On my way to class, I called my Mom and chatted and squeaked like a school girl. I was beyond excited!I got there 15 minutes early - and I wasn't the first one there!

So I am taking a class called "Adventures in Quilt Making" at Capital Quilts. It is a 4 week course with homework. This week I learned sooooooooo much! And here are the instructions for making a 5 inch 9 patch.

First - clean cutting. So I ironed my fabric without going over the crease. Makes sense. To clean cut (so you have a straight cut) I lined the fabric to the ruler and cut off the extra fabric. See how the the edge is straight in that picture?

Second - I cut my two fabrics into 2 inch strips. I needed 8 strips of the blue leaves and 7 of the blue circles. Then I needed to sew them together. I made 3 sets of strips with blue leaves on the outside, and two with the circles on the outside. I pressed all my seams towards the leaves. Tell you why later.

Third - I cut them again. And into 2 inch strips. There is a theme here. I needed a total of 48 strips with leaves on the outside and 24 with circles on the outside. Then I started sewing them together. I chain sewed them; meaning that I didn't cut them in between each pair.

Again I pressed towards the blue leaves - in this case, towards the outside. I pressed out so that the seams would all nest together and keep the bulk of the seams smaller. Then I started attached the other side. Making my 9 patch.

 My homework this week - to make 24.  In 4 hours, I was able to do all the above and finish 14 9 patches. I have everything cut and partially pieced for 20.  I still need to cut 3 more and then piece everything together.