Wednesday Project - Miniature Snowball and 9-Patch Quilt

This is the debut of my Wednesday Project feature. Each Wednesday I am going to give you instructions for a basic quilting project. Some will be complete in one day, some will be a series. This first project will be a series - Miniature Snowball and Nine-Patch.

To make this project you will need:

12 strips: 1 1/2 inches by 45 inches of a variety of blue fabrics from light to dark.

1 Fat Quarter white or white on white fabric.

1/3 yard blue fabric for border.

For todays step you will cut 8 squares 1 1/2 inches from each blue strip for a total of 96 squares

Cut 24 squares 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches from the white fat quarter.

This technique is one of my favorite ways to add a triangle to the corner of a square, and is especially handy for working with miniatures.

Simply lay your white 3 1/2" square face up. On the top right corner place a blue 1 1/2" square, aligning the edges.

Stitch from the top left corner of the blue square to the bottom right corner of the blue square.

Trim your seam allowance 1/4 inch from your stitching line.

Press triangle toward the outside of the block.

I like to chain piece my snowballs - I simply overlap the squares and sew the corners in one long line.

You can stitch, trim and press each corner at once, but I prefer to do all my sewing, then all my trimming, and finish with pressing.

You should now have 24 snowball blocks. Check back next week and we will make all of our nine-patch blocks without cutting individual squares - the fast, easy and fun way!