One of the first patterns I tried when I started on this quilting journey was the disappearing 9-patch block. Ultimately, it's still sewing basic squares together, but to make this block a little more fancy, we chop up the 9 patch block, rotate the pieces for fun results.

Going through my stash of Christmas fabrics (I really need to do some Christmas stash enhancement shopping!) I found some pieces of a FQ bundle which I'd won from a magazine about a bazillion years ago. 

The colours are very traditional and I think I'd used up all of the prettier prints from the bundle and these were the leftovers. They're not my favourite Christmas colours, but I know people who do love the traditional, so I've made a runner that's now all ready to gift.

Many of us are seasoned quilters are very well aware of how to make a disappearing 9-patch block. But in saying this, I do get a lot of newbie quilters visit the blog, who are just learning the craft, so I thought I'd share the steps on how to go about making a table runner like this Spirit of Christmas one.

Begin with 9 x 5" squares. I chose 4 green ones, 1 red one and 4 low volume (or white) ones. Sew them in the order of green, white, green. Then white, red, white. and then again green, white. green. Join to a 3x3 configuration and press. Now repeat this step and make 2 more 9 patch blocks. You'll end up with 3 altogether.

The next step is to measure and cut the 9-patch blocks right through the middle - use the image below as the example. 

NB: I just place my ruler on the seam at the 2.25" mark and cut there.

From those 3 x 9-patch blocks, you end up with 12 blocks.

Now the fun begins... playing with the layout.

Here are a few layout options that I experimented with before deciding on the one that I finally used for Christmas Spirit.