Destroying the 9-Patch

The best time to be fooling around with a new project is often when you should be doing something else!
I should be getting ready for my teaching trip....and I am!...but I found a set of 30--6" squares in my scrap basket. And lately I've been reading about the Exploding 9-Patch or the Disappearing 9-Patch (and I am sure many other names, too!). So I just had to play.

Chop, chop...these are one quarter of some of the original blocks

My camera was having a temper tantrum and lost the original pictures of the 9-Patch blocks. But I have every confidence in you, Dear Reader, being able to imagine a 9-Patch block, cut down the middle top to bottom, and then side to side.
That makes the center square come out as a little square along with half of each middle side square. They now look like a sashing with cornerstones, and the original corner squares get to be the big stars of the show.
For those of you fooling around with the math (I know you are out there, and you know who you are!), it's possible to make 3 blocks from 27 squares...so 3 squares went back in the scrap basket. But since each 9-Patch would be cut into 4 pieces to equal 12 new units, I knew the 3 blocks would end up as a square/rectangle when done.
That's pretty advanced math for me!

The chopped up blocks begin their Dance of Frustration.

You know what I mean here...they all look great! But wait! There are two that I don't like together, so I have to move them...but wait! Now there are too many reds together, so another trade....every time you move one, it makes the whole thing worse.

Is this arrangement better? Who knows?

You can fret over this stuff for days and it will never come out right. I am sure about that, because after you decide you like the arrangement, when you start sewing the blocks together you'll get them out of order anyway. I certainly do.
Just sew them and get over it!
All anybody ever sees is the final product, not your painful deliberations.

Today's mantra: At least this part is done

There's something about having it sewn that makes it look better, although there is also something about taking a picture that makes you want to do it over again!
I am avoiding any temptation to reverse-sew and move these blocks!
It came out about 24" x 32", so I can put on a nice 2" inner border and a 4" outer border to make a great child-size quilt for my guild's charity!

Another win-win-win: scraps used up...need for sewing fulfilled....charity project started!