Nine Patch Quilt Block — Cutting Chart by Finished Size

2 fabrics · Difficulty 1 of 5

Nine Patch is a 3×3 block of 9 pieces. Cut sizes for 6″, 9″, 12″, 15″, 18″ are below; for any other size it divides into cleanly, type the size and the chart recomputes.

Accepted finished sizes must resolve to ruler-compatible cuts; unsupported sizes are refused with nearby clean sizes and are never silently rounded.

At a glance

Grid

3×3

Pieces you cut

9

Difficulty

1 of 5 — first block · How this is scored

Which sizes divide cleanly

Scroll sideways to see every column.

• A 5-patch block at 12″ would need 2.4″ units, which is not a mark on any ruler. Try 10″ or 12½″ instead — Sister's Choice is the 5-patch block on this site.
• A 7-patch block at 12″ would need 1.714…″ units, which is not a mark on any ruler. Try 10½″ or 14″ instead — Bear's Paw is the 7-patch block on this site.

More about the sizes that do not divide cleanly

The sizes in between

A 10″ Nine Patch cannot be cut accurately on its 3×3 grid. Use 9″ or 10½″ instead; both cutting charts are on this page, computed by Quilt Block Atlas.

Both columns are FINISHED block sizes — the size a block will be once it is sewn, never a size to cut. Look the clean size up in the charts on this page for its cutting numbers.

Scroll sideways if the table is wider than your screen.

These sizes divide cleanly but sit between the main chart's columns — the same computed cuts, published here so they exist on paper too. Any other clean size still computes in the size input above.

Column headings are the FINISHED block size — the size it will be once it is sewn. Every number in the table is the size to CUT, which includes ¼″ of seam allowance on each edge. Rows that are subcut on a diagonal are cut larger still, so the allowance survives the extra cuts.

Scroll sideways to see every size.

About this block

Pieces in the finished block

9

Unit types

square

Divides cleanly at

1½″, 3″, 4½″, 6″, 7½″, 9″, 10½″, 12″, 13½″, 15″, 16½″, 18″, 19½″ and 21″ finished.

Fabric for one 12″ block

This is a conservative buying estimate for one cut size at a time: ¼ yd total, assuming 40″ of usable width of fabric; different cut sizes are not co-packed, and purchase length is rounded up to the next eighth yard.

Straight grain everywhere and not a diagonal in sight — the entire job is the crossings. Press each row's seams the opposite way to its neighbour and the intersections lock together with barely a pin. Every patch is the same cut size, so the rows can be strip-pieced from long runs.

Piecing order

1. Lay out row 1 of 3 and sew its pieces together, left to right.

2. Lay out row 2 of 3 and sew its pieces together, left to right.

3. Lay out row 3 of 3 and sew its pieces together, left to right.

4. Join the 3 rows, matching the seams.

Cutting oversize

Nothing in this block needs cutting oversize: every piece is cut straight to its exact size, so sew an accurate quarter inch and it comes out true. If you like trimming room anyway, the reasoning is on how to square up a quilt block.

History

Barbara Brackman describes the Elizabeth Bowman Nace quilt as the earliest example in Barbara Brackman's photo collection, with a 1786 date on the reverse; she also cautions that reverse or backing dates can be unreliable. She attributes further observations to dated examples from 1802, 1806 and 1808, and reports that a British survey of 69 pre-1840 quilts found none set block by block in this way.

Sources: Barbara Brackman — The Classic Early American Quilt.

Common questions