I love how versatile EQ8 Quilt Design software is no matter what kind of quilt you are making or how you want to cut it out.  In this lesson, we are going to explore nine patch blocks that you can cut out with your Accuquilt GO! Cutters using the Qube die sets.

Accuquilt GO! Qube dies contain 8 basic die shapes that you can mix and match to make Four Patch blocks in a 2 x 2 grid.

However, you can also use those same shapes to make Nine Patch Blocks in a 3 x 3 grid.  Here is how:

When you know what size Nine patch block can be created with your Qube, you can easily size your nine patch blocks to match in EQ8.

For example, an 8” GO! Qube makes 12” nine patch blocks.  Since the Qube is based upon a four patch block, when we use the dies for a nine patch, the nine patch is half again larger in size.

Here is a Nine Patch Block that shows each patch using the different Qube Mix & Match Shapes.  You can use this block as a CHEAT SHEET  to help figure out what shapes are in other nine patch blocks.

1. Open EQ8.
2. Let’s name the Project.  The project name appears at the top left of the EQ8 Window. Right now the project says Untitled – EQ8.
3.  On the left side toolbar, click the New project button.  
4.  On the Create a new project tab, type in the project name field Nine Patch Qube.
   
5.  Click OK.  The box will close.  Notice the project name Untitled has been replaced with Nine Patch Qube.
6. We are going  to grab a few nine patch blocks to work with.  EQ8 has a whole library of build in nine patch blocks for you to use.
7. On the top menu, Select LIBRARIES > Block Library
   
8. In the Tree Viewer, scroll to 01 Classic Pieced.
   
9. Under that look for two libraries, NINE PATCH and NINE PATCH STARS.  These are great places to find EQ8 nine patch blocks to use with your Accuquilt GO! System.  Take a minute to browse through all the blocks.
   
10. In the NINE PATCH library, select the first yellow nine patch and add it to your sketchbook.
    
11. Now we are going to search for a few more specific blocks to work with.  We are going to SEARCH BY NOTECARD.
    
12. In the POP Up Window, type Apple Pie and search.
    
13.  Select the first block and Add to Sketchbook.
    
14. Using the Search by Notecard, search for Blueberry Pie, select the first block andAdd to sketchbook.
15. Using the Search by Notecard, search for Five Spot, select the first block and Add to sketchbook.  Close Block Libraries.
    
16. Open the Sketchbook, BLOCKS, double click on the Yellow Nine Patch to edit the block.
17.  Go to the Print and Export tab, Select Print, Select Block.  In the pop up window, leave size as 6″ x 6″ so it will fit on a page, then select Printing Style: Showing Fabrics and Print the block to a printer.
18. Take a look at the block.  In this case, each patch of the nine patch block is a single block.  Looking at our Nine Patch Cheat Sheet, we can see the single block corresponds to Qube Shape 1.
    
19. On your printed block, you can write in the numbers of  the Qube Shapes.  In this case, they are all Shape 1.
    
    
20. Open the Sketchbook.  Select Blocks and double click on Apple Pie to edit the block.  If you hover over the block, you will see the name.
    
21. Go to the print and export tab.  Select Print, Block.  In the pop up window, leave size as 6″ x 6″ so it will fit on a page, then select Printing Style: Showing Fabrics and Print the block to a printer.  We are going to  continue to mark up our printed block with Qube Shape sizes.
    
22. This block has several different Patches making up the nine patch block.  Let’s look at the top right corner Patch.  This first patch contains two flying geese stacked.  Looking at our Cheat Sheet, we can see the flying geese shapes are made up of Shapes 4 and 5.  Mark the shapes on your printed block copy with a marker or pen.
23. We also see that all the corners have this same Patch with the same shapes.  Mark the Shapes.
    
24. The second patch contains two rectangles.  Looking at our Cheat Sheet, we can see the Rectangles are Shape 8.  Mark the shapes.  There are four of these same patches in the block.  Mark the Shapes.
    
25. Finally, the last patch is the center patch which is a single square.  We know this is Shape 1 .  Mark the shape.
    
26. Open the Sketchbook.  Select Blocks and double click on Blueberry Pie to edit the block.  If you hover over the block, you will see the name.
    
27. Go to the print and export tab, Print, Block, in the pop up window, select Printing Style: Showing Fabrics and print the block.  This block also has several different Patches making up the nine patch block.  Let’s look at the top right corner Patch.
    
28. This first patch contains two smaller squares and two smaller half square triangle squares.  Looking at our Cheat Sheet, we can see the small square is Shape 2 and the Half square triangle squares are made of Shape 5.  Mark the Shapes.  The corners all have this same Patch with the same shapes.  Mark the Shapes.
    
29. The second patch contains two parallelograms.  Looking at our Cheat Sheet, we can see the Parallelograms are Shapes 7 and 5.  Mark the shapes. There are four of these same patches in the block.  Mark the Shapes.
    
30. Finally, the last patch is the center patch which is a single square.  We know this is Shape 1 .  Mark the shape.
31. Let’s try one more block.
    
32. Open the Sketchbook.  Select Blocks and double click on Five Spot to edit the block.  If you hover over the block, you will see the name.
    
33. Go to the Print and Export tab, Select Print, Select Block, in the pop up window, select Printing Style: Showing Fabrics and print the block.  This block has several different Patches making up the nine patch block.  Let’s look at the top right corner Patch.
    
34. This first patch contains one large half square triangle and two small half square triangles and one small square. Looking at our Cheat Sheet, we can see the small square is Shape 2 and the small half square triangles are Shape 5.  The large half square triangle is Shape 3.  Mark the Shapes.  All of the corners have this same Patch with the same shapes.  Mark the Shapes.
    
35. The second patch contains one Square on Point with four small half square triangles.  Looking at our Cheat Sheet, we can see the Square on Point is Shape 6 and the small half square triangles are Shape 5.  Mark the shapes.
    
36. We can also see that the remaining patches are all these same Square on point patches. Mark the Shapes.
37. Once you have figured out the shapes you need for your nine patch block, you can determine how many of each shape you need from each fabric.  Do this by printing out the rotary cutting directions for the block for the size of your Qube.
    
38. Go to the Print and Export Tab, Select Print, Select Rotary Cutting and print the chart.  In this example, we are using an 8’ Qube, so the finished block size is 12”.
    
39.  When I print out the rotary directions for the Five Spot block, I can mark it up with the corresponding Qube Shape numbers.  Electric Quilt uses letters in the Key Block in the Rotary cutting directions.  You just need to match the letters up with the Accuquilt shape numbers.  When I do that, it shows me how many of those shapes I need by color or fabric for the block.

This is one way to figure out how to use the nine patch blocks with your Qube.  My examples today only used the shapes in the Base Qube Mix & Match, but you can use the same idea for the shapes in the Companion Corners and Angles as well.  I really like that I can color the shape any way I like and by using the Rotary Cutting Chart, I can get the counts of how many shapes of each color or fabric I will need for a block.  I just have to multiply by the number of blocks to get the quantities of shapes for a whole quilt.

There are so many nine patch blocks already included with your EQ8 software that will work this way to use with your Accuquilt GO! Qube and Cutter.

If you liked this, you might like my Add-on EQ8 Block Library to use with Accuquilt GO! Qubes  called Nine Patch Party.   I have created 60 beautiful nine patch blocks in EQ8 that are conveniently sized to match Accuquilt Qube die shapes.  You can find out more about them at my website HERE

Happy Designing!

Questions or Feedback

Lori J. Miller lives in Oxford, Michigan, where she designs, stitches and sews quilts and quilty things. She loves experimenting with fun colors and designs to make playful and clever products for the modern sewist.  Lori continues to share her knowledge with others teaching quilting and EQ8 classes around the country.  A self professed EQ8 superfan, you can follow her quilting adventures on her blog at lorimillerdesigns.com or on instagram @lorimillerdesigns

Accuquilt, Accuquilt GO!, and GO! Qube Mix & Match block system are registered trademarks of the Accuquilt Company.