Block of the Month January: Pinwheel

Yay! Let's start our quilts!  Each block should finish a 12 1/2" square. 

Please email me if you have any questions at all.

Have fun!

xoxo, Annie

Pinwheel Block

If you haven't cut with a rotary cutter before, you can watch this video I found on you tube to help you get started.

From Back Ground Fabric (light blue): Cut one 7.25" square and cut into quarters diagonally

From Accent Fabric (periwinkle): Cut one 7.25" square and cut into quarters diagonally

From Main Fabric (fuchsia): Cut two 6 7/8 " Squares and cut in half diagonally

Always Use 1/4" seam on quilts, You can buy a foot for your machine that is specifically 1/4" for quilting and makes it a lot easier.  Also,don't use steam on your iron, especially because since these fabric are being cut diagonally, they are on the bias edge and will stretch if you pull too much.

Place a background and accent triangle right sides together and sew on the short side. Repeat with the remaining accent and background triangles. Sew them all on the same side so all four are identical and look like this:

Sew the finished two color unit to a main fabric triangle. Press seam toward the Main fabric. Trim back to 6 1/2 inches if needed. Repeat with the remaining units.

Lay out your blocks so they look like the picture below but line them up perfectly ;)  The top two units are you first row, sew them together and press seam toward the left block. The bottom two units are your second row, sew them together and press towards the right block. Now sew the rows together and match up the center seams that you pressed in opposite directions(you can also just press the seams open, pressing them in opposite directions is a little trick I've picked up that saves a lot of time).

Your finished block should measure 12 1/2"