Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Let's Make a Pinwheel Block

If you're coming to the Pinwheel Party, this will be good practice.

We'll start off with four half square triangles, like we made yesterday.

Before I go any further, I'd like to mention something that is of no importance for this project, but will definitely count if you're making the Pinwheel Party Quilt.

You can make two different pinwheels with any given set of four half square triangles.
Layout 1:

Layout 2:

Now let's start:

  1. Lay out your four half square triangles on your table as above.
  2. Sew them together in pairs.

    Press the seam allowances toward the darker fabric. This way, when you sew these together, the seams will lay in opposite directions, reducing bulk.
  3. Sew the two pairs together.  To ease the lining up of the pinwheel center, I like to sew just a little section where the seams intersect first. That way, if they're not lined up properly, I only have to rip out a couple of stitches.
  4. Press the seam open.  This will reduce the bulk in the center of the pinwheel.
And there we go! A pinwheel.

Tomorrow I'l show you how I made my potholder, if you're interested.

9 comments:

  1. Great tip on the stitches where the points intersect.... that is my biggest frustration with triangles. Now I have a new trick to try!

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  2. Of course we want to see the potholder!

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  3. <>

    I wanna see how you make your potholder, I wanna see!!!

    Hugs

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  4. Of course we're interested! I love anything made with a pinwheel!!!

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  5. Thanks for the tip about sewing a little section in the center to check for matching seams.

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  6. Love it! Step 3 is the best tip. I'm always nervous when I turn over the block to see if things match up properly.

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  7. Oh I love this pinwheel sewing tip and you can be sure I will be using it when making the blocks for the quilt. Can't wait to get started next week.

    lsandes@comcast.net

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  8. Thanks for the tips especially the sewing a little of the seam.
    Look forward to seeing the potholder.

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  9. I'm so looking forward to the Pinwheel party.

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