A Window to Summer Quilt

Hi, it’s Kristy here from Handmade Retro. You know how there are some times that you have the time and energy to work on something really involved and intricate and others where you just feel like a simple sew with very little cutting? This quilt is for those times like the second option. It is also a great option for simple graphic prints or novelty prints you don’t want to chop up too small.

1 x charm pack of Summersville by Lucie Summers

0.5 yard of Bella Solids in Betty’s Orange (9900-124), Kelly (9900-76), Christmas Red (9900-16), Horizon Blue (9900-111), Black (9900-99)

2.5 yards in Bella Solids Snow (9900-11) – for top and binding
3.75 yards for backing (I used the green leaf  print – 31703 15)

For Quilting

DMC Perle 8 thread in Black (310), Orange (900), Green (702)
Finca Perle 8 thread in Red (1490), Verigated Aqua/Teal (9770), Cream (1211)

Cutting
From the cream solid
Cut 7 – 2.5″ strips – set these aside from the binding
Cut 12 – 5.25″ strips and cross cut into 5.25″ squares.

You will be able to get 7 squares from each strip – you will need 84 squares total.

Cut each of the squares into triangles in half from corner to corner – you will end up with 168.

From the Orange Solid
Cut 1 strip 4″ wide – cross cut into 10 4″ squares and then again into triangles in the same manner as the cream solid.
You need to finish with 20 triangles.

From the Red Solid
Cut 1 strip 4″ wide – cross cut into 10 4″ squares and then again into triangles in the same manner as the fabrics earlier.
You need to finish with 20 triangles.

From the Green Solid 
Cut 2 strips 4″ wide – cross cut into 18 4″ squares and then again into triangles in the same manner.
You need to finish with 36 triangles.

From the Black Solid
Cut 2 strips 4″ wide – cross cut into 20 4″ squares and then again into triangles in the same manner.
You need to finish with 40 triangles.

From the Teal Solid
Cut 3 strips 4″ wide – cross cut into 26 4″ squares and then again into triangles in the same manner.
You need to finish with 52 triangles.

That’s it. All the cutting is done.

Sewing

Split your bundle into color families – in Summersville you will have 5 (from left to right – black, red, blue, green, orange). All the blocks will be constructed in the same way – just with the matching solid.

Find the center of two opposite sides of a charm square and finger press to mark. Take two corresponding color triangles and find the center on the long side in the same way.

Match the center marks and pin at the center mark and each end, you will have some overhang on each end. That’s a good thing. 

Sew both seams.
Tip: I worked with one color at a time, pinning the triangles onto opposite side of all the squares of one color and then chain piecing them down one side and then the other.

Press the triangles open to end up with something like this. I recommend pressing your seams towards the triangle.

Find the center of the two sides without a triangle and finder press to mark. Do the same with the rest of  the triangles and pin. Sew, chain piecing as before.

Press triangle out – you’ve got a square again! Trim the dog ears from the center of each of the four sides.

The cream triangles are added in exactly the same way – the only difference is I only mark the center on the triangle – I match this with the point of the charm square – this is not the edge of the seam on the edge of the block!

 Sew a triangle on opposite sides, press out, repeat with the remaining sides. Trim the new dog ears.

Another square!

Repeat with all the other colors.

Lay out your blocks until you are happy with the distribution of the colours. You should have 42 blocks for a 6×7 layout.

When you are satisfied ,sew the blocks together in rows, then pairs, then fours, then join and add on the last row nesting seams between the blocks and pressing row seams towards the bottom of the quilt.

You have a quilt top!

Finishing

Basting

I pin baste my quilts. First I tape the backing to the floor pulling tight (but not stretching the fabric) and taping the edges flat. 

Tip: If you have joins or designs you want to match up the floorboards joints or tile grout lines can be helpful here!

Quilting

For this quilt I hand quilted with Perle cotton No. 5 (see garnishes for colors I used) ¼” outside the print square and in a square inside the larger cream areas.

Binding

I use straight of grain binding, machine sew to the front, mitering corners and hand stitched to the back.

54″x62″  lap size quilt

Kristy Ward
{handmaderetro.blogspot.com}

 

Kaleidoscope Christmas Quilt

Hi, Kristy back again from HandmadeRetro. I don’t have many Christmas decorations up in my house usually. Both of our families live interstate (thankfully in the same one) and we are most often away for the Christmas season so it seems a little silly to decorate an empty house. But when I made this cushion last year and it got such a great response I decided to make a quilt sized version for a little Christmas cheer. I modified the construction a little from the cushion to eliminate some of the unnecessary seams but it is still based on a Kaleidoscope block with careful fabric placement. I used a layer cake but it would also be great from scraps of different Christmas lines, as the cushion was.

Note: My templates are provided in the Printer Friendly Version below. They are sized for A4 paper but will print on US Letter paper if you select “no scaling.”

1 x Layer Cake of Joy by Kate Spain

3 yards solid or tone on tone print for background/negative space (I used  27124 23)

2 yards of print for border (I also used  27124 23)

3/4 yard for binding (I used  27127 12)

5.5 yards of chosen print for backing (I used  27123 13)

template plastic

Perle cotton
Kaleido ruler or other 45 degree ruler

Make your templates
From the printable version print the templates (your will need to join Template C) and trace onto template plastic with a ruler (to help keep your lines straight) and a sharp pencil. 

Cut out using scissors (or and old rotary cutter) along the lines.

Cutting

From the Layer cake

Sort each of your layer cake squares into four colour groups – using this line I had green, red, white background and aqua.

For each ring you will need 12 large triangles and 16 small corner triangles. The templates are provided in the printable version. If you have a Kaleido ruler/45 degree ruler you will be able to use this for the large triangle (12” block mark) but you will need to use the template to cut the smaller triangles.

From each layer cake sheet you can cut 2 large triangles and 2/3 small triangles. Cut the required number of triangles from a mix of colours and patterns. A minimum of four designs per scrappy ring is recommended (you will have four different prints in each corner). As I was cutting I lay out each ring to make sure I had a good mix as I was cutting.  

To make maximum use of a 10” square cut a strip 6.5” wide along one side. From this strip you can cut 2 large triangles by top and tailing Template A (or your 45 degree ruler)

Top and tailing the second template as shown you can cut 2-3 small triangles. The shorter edges will be the bias ones so handle carefully. 

A reconstructed layer cake square will look like this with the scraps.

From the background solid

Cut 2 strips 6.5” wide and cut a further 16 large triangles with Template A (or your 45 degree ruler).

Cut 5 x 12.5” strips and cross cut to yield 13 12.5” squares

Cut 2 x 12.5” strips and crosscut into 8 template C – rotating but not flipping for each subsequent shape.

A tip: when cutting using template plastic place this on the fabric as a guide, line up a ruler at the edge and then use this to cut along with your rotary cutter – it will save your fingers and stop you from shaving off little bits of  the template.

From the border fabric

Cut 4 x 9.5” strips down the length of the fabric to yield 4 x 9.5” 60″+ length of fabric strips.

From the binding fabric

Cut 9 x 2.5” strips

Sewing

The centre panel of the quilt is make from 25 blocks in a 5×5 layout as shown above. The mostly solid blocks (in the corner, middle of the sides, the centre block and the centre of the wreaths) are the 12.5″ squares you cut with the corner triangles added. The Template A triangles are the larger coloured triangles (and the white ones where the wreaths join and around the edge) and Template C makes the second half a block on the outer edges. Clear as mud?

Sewing the Wreath Centres
I worked a colour/wreath at a time because it helped me lay out the prints in the pleasing mix. 

Lay your A triangles out on a table/floor/design wall with the larger base to the middle of the ‘circle’ – you will have 3 on each ‘side’. Add the white triangle to one side of the set of three. Found it helpful to also lay out the Template C half so I placed the Background A triangle on the correct side. 

Sew these sets together in two pairs, press seams to one side, and then to a set of four with the background triangle on one edge. 
Tip: When sewing – start from the wider base, it will help you fabric not to get chewed up by the feed dogs at the start of the seam. 

Tip:If you always put the wide triangle base to your left when pressing the seams after the first pair are sewn they will nest nicely when you sew them together.

Now you will have four halves. The ones destined for the outside of the quilt will match with the template C piece like this. To finish the pieced half on all the four sections sew on a corner triangle in the positions as pictured. You will have ‘ears’ on the B triangles so to position correctly find the centres by folding and finger pressing and then matching the marks. Sew, press seams to outer triangle. 

Sew the background halves to two of the pieced halves. The other two will be joined to a pieced half of a different colour later. 

To finish the ring we need to add the coloured triangles to the 12.5″ squares – the centre of the wreath will need one at each corner, and four more will need 1 in one corner (2 of these will later get a second colour on a second corner and one will have 4 corners coloured with the colour of the four rings. Confused? The diagram at the beginning of this section should help)

To trim the corners to assist placement of the coloured triangle lay one of  the triangles in the corner to be trimmed, matching the point and edges. Mark the background square at the base of the triangle (this will be the seam line so use something erasable).

Place the 1/2″ mark of your ruler on the line you just drew and cut, trimming off the corner.

You’ll end up with this.

Finger press to find the centres of side of each piece again and sew the corners on. 

You’ve now got all the blocks/units needed for one ring. Repeat the steps with the other colours – joining the pieced halves of two colours where they meet. 

Piece the Centre Section
Lay out all the blocks, using the diagram at the top of this post to assist, and sew together in rows, then sew the blocks together. I press my seams to the side and nest them together when sewing the rows. 

Adding the borders
You will have four borders longer than the side seam of the quilt. To measure the size needed to trim them to fold the quilt though the centre and measure. Repeat on the other axis. It should be the same, and about 60.5″ if your seams were accurate. Trim all four of the side measurements to the length of your measurements. 
Tip: Measuring in this way helps to minimise the calculation of any stretched out sides and prevents a wavy border when sewn on. 

Sew two long strips to opposite side of the centre panel. Press seams towards the border.
Tip: I find pinning at this stage very helpful. find the centre of the border and the centre panel by folding and finger pressing. Match these marks and pin. Pin at either and and then in at least 3 additional places in each half. This should help stop unwanted stretching as you sew.  

Before sewing on the two additional borders you’ll need to construct four 9.5″ cornerstone blocks to add to each end of the remaining two borders to bring them up the the size of the centre panel plus the two borders. I made wonky 9 patch stars in keeping with the Christmas theme. There are a heap of tutorials for this block around so I won’t include another other than to say that each unit should be cut at 3.5″. You could use any block you like or a print. I got all the fabric I needed from the scraps of the squares and a few unused ones. 

Once you have made them sew the blocks onto each end of the two remaining strips and press seams towards the border strip. 

Nest seams at the border, pin at the centre and each end and sew. Press seam towards the border. 

You have a Christmas quilt top!

Finishing

Basting

I pin baste my quilts. First I tape the backing to the floor pulling tight (but not stretching the fabric) and taping the edges flat. 
Tip: If you have joins or designs you want to match up the floorboards joints or tile grout lines can be helpful here!

Quilting

For this quilt I hand quilted with Perle cotton No. 5 (see garnishes for Finca colours I used) ¼” inside some of the triangles to mimic ribbon wrapping around a wreath. 

I free motion quilted a 4 point star in each of the large background squares (alternating the orientation inside and outside the wreaths. 

In the border I hand quilted inside the white stars and outside the coloured stars and free motion quilted around the print on the long borders. 

Binding

I use straight of grain binding, machine sew to the front, mitering corners and hand stitched to the back.

A 78″ x 78″ full sized quilt!

Kristy Ward
{handmaderetro.blogspot.com}

Salt Air Diamonds Quilt

Hi, Kristy back again with another quilt. When will my brain stop coming up with quilt designs  that refuse to let go? Hopefully not for a long time!

This design was inspired by my imperfect memory of the ceiling thatching on the roof of a holiday villa in Bali I was lucky enough to enjoy with three of my best friends for our combined 30^th birthdays last year. When I saw the Salt Air fabric I knew the colours would fit perfectly with such a beachy memory. To make it even better there are no ‘Y’ seams because it is all constructed from 60-degree triangles!

1 jelly roll Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket

3 yards solid 9900 42 for sashing, setting triangles and binding

4 yards 37021 11 for backing

60-degree ruler

Constructing the Triangles

1.      Sort your strips into groups of four of similar colours. If using the Salt Air collection, the colours do not divide evenly but sets of similar colours can be achieved (so there is not one strip in a set that stands out)

2.      Sew the strips together so you have 10 sets each made up of four strips. This can get a little tiring so I did one or two sets at a time and cut the triangles (see the next step) before moving on to the set strip set.

Tip: When sewing pick one end to start with i.e. – the printed selvedge or other end and match these to ensure only one uneven end. I usually match the unprinted end. This will ensure you have a strip long enough to cut the required triangles.

3.      Press the seams to the side (or open depending on your preference – I just always do mine to the side). I found this worked better when I pressed each seam after sewing rather than when the set was together – it is easier to get the seam flat and this will be important for a good finish later.

 

4.      When you have a completed and pressed strip, set cut your 60 degree triangles. At this stage your strip set will be 9” wide. My ruler is 8.5” high so I will need to cut a bit off the blunt top when cutting the triangles. Alternate the orientation of the ruler for each triangle {positioning the wide base flush with the top or bottom of the strip set}. You should get 8 from each strip set.

Note: My 60-degree ruler has only one blunt tip as it was made for a particular pattern. Others I have seen on the market are exactly the same but have 3 blunt tips. Construction will be the same no matter what brand of ruler you use, cut off the extra dog ears at this stage or not; do whatever suits you.

5.      Set aside your triangle sets, separated into groups according to the strip set they were cut from.

     Cutting and assembling the sashing

1.     From the solid, cut 25 strips 1” wide and cross cut into 10.5” strips (units will be 1”x10.5”)
I    I cut my strips 5″x WOF and then cut the 1″ strip from the 5″ units. I found this a better way to ensure an accurate cut along the grain. 

2.      Take one set of triangles. Half your triangles should have the apex at the top and half should have the wide base at the top. Maintaining this orientation sew a 1″ strip to the right hand side of all triangles. Press seam. 

     When the triangles are oriented to form the diamonds the sashing strips will be on the right. 

3.      
      Trim the excess strips. I lined my ruler up with the wide base and trimmed the bottom of the strip, re-oriened the ruler and lined up with the un-sashed side and trimmed the overlap at the top. 

4.      Repeat until all triangles have one sashing strip attached.

Cutting and sashing the border triangles

1.      Cut 3 strips 8.5” wide (or the height of your ruler if it is different to mine)

2.      From these strips cut 10 full triangles and 8 half triangles

3.      Cut the full triangles in the same way you cut the strippy ones.

4.      To cut the half triangles find the centre of your ruler (mine is marked) and find ¼” to the side of that (this is marked on mine as well). Place this 1/4” mark on the edge of your fabric and cut.

5.      Sew a sashing strip to 8 of the half triangles and all of the full triangles. Trim as you did for the strippy triangles.
   
      You will need to cut another 8 triangles for the right had side of the quilt. to do this trace a half triangle from your ruler into paper and draw a line 1/2″ beyond the RHS. Use this as a template to cut the triangles for the right had side of the quilt. You will not need to add sashing strips to these ones. 

Y   Assembling the quilt top.

1.      Lay all your triangles out on your design wall or floor, matching triangles from strip sets to form diamonds. Aim for a good spread of the colours. See how the sashing strips are forming the lattice?

Take a picture!

Unfortunately mine has gone missing!

2.      I toyed with the idea of sewing the rows together in an ‘on point’ arrangement but I think horizontal rows will work best.

3.      Working one row at a time, pair the triangles and pin (I really think this will help on this one) 1+2, 3+4 … 11+12 (you will have one at the end of the row left over).  When pinning, make sure the points extend about 1/4″ beyond as pictured. This will ensure your rows end up straight. 

5.      Chain piece the two triangle sets then pair again and again until you have a row. Sew on the last triangle. Compare to your picture!

6.      Press seams towards the ‘peak’ triangles

7.      Repeat with the remaining rows.

8.      To join rows pin together. If you pressed the seams to the side when sewing the triangles into the rows they will nest at the points where they meet and form a ‘V’ at the raw edges when you are pinning.

      Quilt top done!

Basting, Quilting and Binding

1.      You will need to cut and piece the fabric for the back to ensure it is large enough. I cut carefully to make the print matched up and left a continuous print – but there will be one stripe missing.

2.      Baste your quilt – I use pins but use whatever method you are comfortable with.

3.      Quilt as desired – I quilted with a row of stitching down the centre of the sashing strips, through the diamonds to create a secondary diamond grip and echo quilted in the border diamonds with stitches 1” apart.

4.      Bind – I used 7-8 strips cut 2.5” on the straight of grain. If you prefer bias strips you will likely need to adjust the fabric amounts listed in the ingredients.

Congratulations, you are done!

55 x 64 lap quilt.   

Kristy

{handmaderetro.blogspot.com}

Star Light, Star Bright Quilt

A Charming Maze Quilt

Hi, it is Kristy from HandmadeRetro back with another Moda Bakeshop recipe!

This quilt  has been a long time coming… the fabric was lost in the mail and then the replacement package got caught up with the recent mail delays between the US and Australia. So I have a heap of satisfaction to bring you this postage-stamp-style maze quilt!

2x charm packs of Little Apples by Aneela Hooey (because of the mail mix-up I have a layer cake pictured but two charm packs are all that are required for the recipe)

2 yards of Etchings Slate for maze path and binding

2 yards for border (Little Apples Aqua 18515 13)

5 yards for backing (Little Apples Lollipop 18510 11)

Step One: Cutting the fabric
From the charm squares
Cut each of the charm squares into 4 2.5″ squares
You will also need to cut an extra 11 2.5″ squares from a combination of the backing and border fabric

From the Solid fabric:
Cut 20 2.5″ strips, sub cut these into 2.5″ squares

Cut another 6 2.5″ strips and set these aside for the binding


From the border fabric (Little Apples Aqua)
Cut 4 strips down the length of the fabric 9.5″ wide and 65″ long

Step Two: Construct the maze.
The maze section of the quilt is made up of 9 uneven sections. Each block is constructed in the same manner and diagrams indicate which block goes where in the centre panel.

Construct each of the nine blocks one at a time.
I have gone through the step-by-step construction of a single block below. Each of the nine blocks will be constructed in the same way so I am not going to picture all the steps each time. The process of the block construction is pictured below but remember to refer to the individual block pictures/diagrams for colour placement.


Some tips to keep everything organised.
– Sew a small scrap of fabric to the first seam of each row to mark the block and the row number (this will also orient the left side of the block).
– Work with one block at a time. Sew one square to the right of the last added to build the row, chain piecing. 

1. Layout the 2.5″ squares using the diagram or photo to assist you. If using the diagram, the white squares refer to the solid (maze path) and the blue/grey squares are the print (maze wall).

2. Get ready to start sewing. To keep everything in order I paired the first square in each row by placing square two face down on the top of square one. I then stacked these pairs with the pair for the bottom row on the bottom of the stack. If using the row markers (see below) place these between the pairs.

3. Stack the remaining squares into piles for each row. You can see in this picture I started to stack them by placing the square on the right of the block on the bottom and stacking each square to the left on top. I was left with 10 stacks (11 for blocks 7-9).

4. Chain piece the first pairs of the rows, separating with the markers if you are using them.

5. Leaving the squares joined, take the next square to the right for each row. Stack with the square for row 10 (11) on the bottom and the square for row 1 on the top to get ready to piece. Chain piece these to square 2.

6. Continue until all squares are added, you will have a block that has all the rows sewn together and these joined with threads.

7. Working with two rows at a time, trim the threads between the rows and press all seams in the direction of the arrows. I leave the row markers on at this stage.

8. Nest seams and sew rows together, being careful to keep the row markers free.

9. Repeat with remaining rows, adding pairs of rows to the block as you go.

10. Blocks 1-6 will be 7 squares by 10 squares, blocks 7-9 will be 7 squares by 11 squares.

11. Press row seams to the bottom of the even numbered blocks and to the top of the odd numbered blocks. Trim the row markers off.

Individual Block Layouts

Constructing the Centre Panel

Sew the blocks together in rows, nesting seams again.  Press seams to the right in row 1 and 3 and the left in row 2.

Sew the rows together, matching nested seams. Press seams to the bottom of the panel.

Adding the Borders
Measure the panel vertically through the middle of the quilt. Trim two of the border strips to this measurement.  Find the centre of the border strips and panels by folding in half and marking with pins. Match centres and edges. Pin, sew, press seam towards the border.

Measure the quilt horizontally through the middle of the quilt. Trim the two remaining border strips to this measurement. Find the centre of the border strips and the quilt top by folding in half and marking with pins. Match Centres and edges. Pin, sew, press seam towards the border.

Prepare the Backing
I prepared my backing with a vertical join. I cut the backing fabric in half and removed selvedges and joined. See this useful tutorial here for how to match up prints.


Baste, quilt and bind
I basted in the ‘hedge’ to leave the ‘path’ free for my chosen quilting design.

I quilted my top on my domestic machine 1/4″ inside the ‘path’ with my walking foot. If you start from the beginning or ending square and follow around you will quilt the entire path (except for a small section you will need to do separately using the same technique.

I straight line quilted the border, pacing the lines 3/4″. I marked the corners with a Hera marker to make identifying the spot to turn a little easier.

One 60″x80″ quilt.

Kristy
{HandmadeRetro}

Pinwheels on the Plain

Hi, I’m Kristy and I blog over at HandmadeRetro. This is my first Moda Bake Shop recipe and I couldn’t be more excited to share this little quilt I came up with.


When I was designing this quilt I was jointly inspired by the wind farms outside of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory and the back of a wedding quilt I made for my brother and his wife which was in turn inspired by the aisle markers at their outdoor wedding.

I was so please when I came up with the technique (that may or may not be original) that I thought it deserved a quilt of it’s own. So here it is, Pinwheels on the Plain.

 
1x Layer Cake Modern Workshop by Oliver + S
1x Charm Pack in Bella Solids White (9900-98)
4.5 Yards Bella Solid for Background (9900-98)
5.5 yards of green spot for backing (11175 14)
3/4 yard of yellow texture for binding (11174 20)

 
Perle No. 8 Hand quilting thread in various colours to compliment your pinwheels
Quilting hoop
Olfa stencil cutter
Template Plastic


 
Sorting and Cutting Fabric
Sort the layer cake into two piles: one for the larger triangles and one for the smaller inner triangles. Because paper pinwheels created by cutting and folding scrapbooking paper inspire the quilt, I chose a small design for the smaller triangle, and a large design for the bigger triangle. I also tried to make the pairs different designs and colours.

You will need 16 layer cake sheets for the larger triangles and 8 for the smaller triangles.


From the 16 layer cake sheets for the larger triangles, cut 4×4.5″ squares.


From the 8 layer cake sheets for the smaller triangles, cut 2x 5″ squares (reserve the 10″x5″ off cut for piecing into the back)


From the background solid cut
       (5) 83″x9″ strips (I cut mine lengthways). 
       (28) 7.5″ in squares and then diagonally into 56 triangles
       4 more 7.5″ squares and crosscut into 16 quarter square triangles.


From the binding fabric cut
       (9) 2.5″ strips


Sewing the Pinwheel Blocks:

Start by sewing the solid charm squares to the 5″ print squares into HST units.


– Draw a line diagonally across the back of the solid corner to corner


– Sew .25″ either side of the line.


– Press to set seam


– Cut along the drawn line.


– Press HST units open, pressing seam to print.


– Trim to 4.5″, making sure your diagonal seam remains in the centre of your pinned unit.


You will have 8 HST units in each print.


Sew HST units with the units you just made and the 4.5″ print squares.

– Draw a line diagonally across the back of 4.5″ print square corner to corner

– Place the HST units and the print squares right sides together with the seam line and drawn  line forming an ‘X’

– Sew .25″ either side of the line.

– Press to set seam

– Cut along the drawn line.

– Press HST units open, pressing seam to larger triangle.

– Trim to 4″, making sure your diagonal seam remains in the centre of your pinned unit.

You will have 8 HST units in each print combination – four in one direction and 4 in the other.

Construct the Pinwheel Blocks:

 – Layout your 8 units in each colour combination into two pinwheel units – one will ‘turn’ in a    clockwise direction and the other counterclockwise direction.

– Sew the vertical seams and press to the larger triangle.

– Sew the horizontal seam.

Make 32 pinwheel blocks, you will have 16 unique combinations.  

Sewing the Rows:


Lay your pinwheel blocks out on your design wall or floor in four rows of 8 on point, making sure you have a good spread of colours. Have alternate rows spinning clockwise and counterclockwise.


Sew the Setting Triangles:


– Working one row at a time, sew a setting triangle to the bottom right of each block. It may overhang a little at the bottom edge, don’t worry. You won’t need to do this for the last block in each row. Press seams to the solid.


 – Working one row at a time, sew a setting triangle to the top left of each block. Again it may overhang a little, this time at the top but don’t worry. This time you won’t need to do it for the first block in the row. Press seams to the solid.


– You will end up with blocks that look a little like this.

– Sew the quarter square triangle to both sides of the end blocks left exposed.

– Trim any dog ears at the edges, ensure you leave .25″ seam allowance at the pinwheel points.


– You have a row!

– Complete 4 rows.


Sewing the Quilt Top:


Join a solid strip between each of the rows and one at the top and the bottom. Because the bias edges of the setting triangle are exposed and we cut the strips a little longer than necessary, this needs the be measured and pinned carefully. The points of the pinwheel blocks should be 10″ apart.


– Find the centre of each of your solid strips and mark, mark 10″ along in both directions until you reach the edge. Use this as a guide when pinning the solid to the pinwheel rows.


– Pin, matching the pinwheel points and the marks you made.


– Sew, press seam to the solid strip.

Cut off the excess strips at the side matching pinwheel points and leaving .25″ seam allowance.


Make the back:
Either cut your backing into two and sew together to create a single fabric backing or piece the leftover layer cake sheets into the backing.


Baste using your preferred method.


Quilting:
I hand quilted my Pinwheels on the Plain in No. 8 perle cotton from DMC.


I initially outline quilted the coloured pinwheel blocks about 1/8th inch in Blanc beginning in the middle and working my way to the edges, top and bottom simultaneously. 


I then made a stencil and quilted pinwheels in the empty areas between the pinwheel in the middle three solid rows. 

To make the stencil, I drew a 7.5″ square on template plastic and then the pinwheel shape in the centre. I cut along each of these lines using and Olfa double blade cutter in dashes. 


I traced this onto my quilt top using a water-soluble marker and quilted around the outside square in Blanc and the inner pinwheel triangles in two colours.

Bind:
Bind using your preferred method.


I cut 2.5″ strips and machine sewed to the front and hand sewed to the back.

One 80″x80 Quilt


Kristy 
{handmaderetro.blogspot.com}