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.
- Open EQ8.
- Let’s name the Project. The project name appears at the top left of the EQ8 Window. Right now the project says Untitled – EQ8.
- On the left side toolbar, click the New project button.
- On the Create a new project tab, type in the project name field Nine Patch Qube.
- Click OK. The box will close. Notice the project name Untitled has been replaced with Nine Patch Qube.
- 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.
- On the top menu, Select LIBRARIES > Block Library
- In the Tree Viewer, scroll to 01 Classic Pieced.
- 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.
- In the NINE PATCH library, select the first yellow nine patch and add it to your sketchbook.
- Now we are going to search for a few more specific blocks to work with. We are going to SEARCH BY NOTECARD.
- In the POP Up Window, type Apple Pie and search.
- Select the first block and Add to Sketchbook.
- Using the Search by Notecard, search for Blueberry Pie, select the first block andAdd to sketchbook.
- Using the Search by Notecard, search for Five Spot, select the first block and Add to sketchbook. Close Block Libraries.
- Open the Sketchbook, BLOCKS, double click on the Yellow Nine Patch to edit the block.
- 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.
- 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.
- On your printed block, you can write in the numbers of the Qube Shapes. In this case, they are all Shape 1.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- We also see that all the corners have this same Patch with the same shapes. Mark the Shapes.
- 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.
- Finally, the last patch is the center patch which is a single square. We know this is Shape 1 . Mark the shape.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Finally, the last patch is the center patch which is a single square. We know this is Shape 1 . Mark the shape.
- Let’s try one more block.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- We can also see that the remaining patches are all these same Square on point patches. Mark the Shapes.
- 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.
- 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”.
- 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.
05-03-2021
2:48 pm
I was wondering how you got the numbers on the block.
It looks like you are typing the numbers on the block in EQ but you are actually printing the block out and writing by hand the numbers. Correct?
05-13-2021
1:10 pm
Hi Donna!
You can add the numbers right on the blocks in layer 2 of eq8! In the fabric tools, select the color you wish to use for the numbers. I use black. Set the block you want to number into a quilt setting. At the bottom of the quilt select layer 2. At the top of the page, select “text tools”. You can change the font and text size, if you wish. I usually leave it where it is, but change the size to “1inch”. Next, point your curser over the block segment. Hold down on the shift key and the left click to drag open a box, then type in the number. Smaller areas may be difficult, so I drag open the text box in another area to type in the number, then use the adjust key to move the number where I need it. It really is that easy and you don’t need to print out the blocks if you don’t want to.
I hope this helps!
05-03-2021
4:03 pm
Donna, I am asking that you print it out and write the numbers by hand. For ease of reading, I actually added the numbers on the block pictures with a separate program that lets me mark up pictures for tutorials and teaching. So just get a marker and go old school, lol. That is what I actually do normally is just use a marker.
05-07-2021
9:43 pm
Your example is using the cubes for a nine patch block. This was so inspirational thank you
Do all the blocks if using the 8 inch cube make a 12 inch finished block? Or does it depend upon the block that is being used? Do you have examples of how to use EQ for the companion kits angles and and corners? Will these blocks also produce a 12 inch block?
I would like to use the cubes but I like to design in EQ before making the project and would like to start using the cube to make the quilt.
05-07-2021
11:21 pm
I am not sure what you mean by all blocks. If you are making a nine patch block with an 8 inch Qube, you will create a 12 inch block. If you make a four patch block with your 8 inch Qube, it makes an 8 inch block. If you use the 8 inch companion angles and/or corners to make a nine patch block, you will create a 12 inch block. See the explanation and chart for Qube size and block size for nine patch blocks for more info in the post. I don’t have examples of none patch blocks with corners or angles but you could certainly look through the EQ8 libraries to find them. Thanks, Lori
05-20-2021
4:17 pm
Hi Lori!
I have the 8″ Qube and the 10″ Qube. I just bought the new 8″ and 10″ setting triangles and am anxiously waiting for them to arrive. I am now wondering if I bought the right sizes for my Qubes! Will I still be able to use the new setting triangles with my 8″ and 10″ Qubes?
Wendy
05-21-2021
11:46 am
Wendy, I would verify with the information on the Accuquilt site to be sure. My understanding is that they are sized to match the Qube block size, so an 8″ block would use the 8″ setting triangles. thanks, Lori
12-15-2022
6:17 pm
I loved following this lesson as it was so clear and I learned so much. However, when I got to the last step of printing for rotary cutter, even though I changed from 6″ block to 8″ block, I got different numbers on the cutting diagrams. For instance A measured 1-7/8 x 1-7/8, B 2-1/8….
The only difference between your settings and mine is rounding which I have set to 1/8.
Any clue what happened? Up until this part I was all in!
03-09-2023
11:03 am
Hi Lori, I’m new to both EQ8 and Accuquilt. Found your post very helpful. I purchased the 6″ Qube and will play with it and likely order your Nine Patch Party add on. Thanks for your tutorial post.