A friend at the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild told me about this method for setting the Disappearing Nine Patch block so make a four-patch with sashing and cornerstones (sample tutorial at Pennylane Patchwork).
To make a Disappearing Nine Patch, sew a nine-patch block and then cut it into four equal pieces and then rearrange the pieces. In this faux-sashing setting, you lay out the original nine patch with a dark square in the center and place the same light-colored squares at the north, south, east and west positions. The corner positions should be filled with fabrics that contrast with each other because these will become a central four-patch after cutting the nine-patch block apart. (My initial choices, above, were not so great because there is not enough contrast between the four-patch blocks that are initially placed at the four corners of the nine-patch.) Lay out the block with the cornerstones in each corner of the block, and you have a ready-made four-patch with sashing.
Square-up the block when you are finished seaming, cutting the faux-sashing to whatever width you prefer.
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