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Catablog· Pinterest· quilting· quilting for beginners· sewing

How to Make a Pinwheel Quilt

August 15, 2011

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I’m finally having a baby girl.

And I knew I wanted to make my baby girl’s quilt a pinwheel with adorable fabrics.

Here’s the quilt top (without the outer sashing).  I can’t wait to quilt and bind this baby and see it finished!

I was inspired by these quilts that I found on Pinterest

Image via Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/61144915/
Image via Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/27358753/
Image via Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/94079035/


Making triangles is a very simple technique that gives you SO many options for quilt designs.  This is also how you create zig zags.

To see the tutorial, follow me after the jump!

First you start out with your selection of fabrics.  For this quilt top I used 40 colored patterned fabrics and 40 plain white cotton.  They are all 5×5 squares.

Place one patterned and one white on top of each other, right sides together.

The fold the two squares in half on the diagonal.  I usually iron them in half so there is a very distinct line to follow and I do a whole bunch at once.

After you have your crease, open it back up and you will sew a stitch 1/4″ on one side of the crease.  (I have heard a 1/4″ foot comes in very handy here but I don’t have one so I just line it up with a certain spot on my presser foot.)  The sew another seam on the other side of the crease, 1/4″ away again.

After that you clip along the crease.

Now when you flip them open you will have two squares made up of four triangles.  Iron the seam flat (I always push it to the side of the printed fabric so you can’t see it as easily.)

To make this whole process go a LOT faster, I do chain stitching.  I will sew the seam on one side of the crease along tons of squares, one right after the other without cutting them off.

Then you can just flip the whole thing over and sew the other side of the seam.  Then you got a lot of cutting and ironing to do.  But after all that monotonous part, you can do the fun part of piecing!

So here is how you arrange your triangle-squares to be a pinwheel.  To do a zigzag you can just make a point at the top with the bottom two flanking out at the bottom.

Sew them together and press the seams down.  Doesn’t that look nice?  Now just make about 19 more pinwheels and then you can lay them out how you want.

And you have a pinwheel top!

Hopefully later this week I will have time to quilt this in a new free-motion pattern I’ve been wanting to try (also inspired by Pinterest!)

 

Filed Under: Catablog, Pinterest, quilting, quilting for beginners, sewing 29 Comments

Comments

  1. Kasey @ Little Brick House says

    August 15, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    That’s so cool! I have never made a quilt before but it’s on my list of things to sew. I’m hoping to make one before Winter, the pinwheel is a very nice design!

    Happy Monday!

    Reply
  2. Beth says

    August 15, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    I saw some of your Puff Quilt Gorgeousness on Lemon Tree Creations!! Hope I win!! And I’m so glad I found your blog! 🙂
    Beth

    Reply
  3. Vanessa G. says

    August 15, 2011 at 4:11 pm

    I am loving those colors, Heidi! Too cute! One thing I always do for the triangle blocks is use a ruler to draw a diagonal line instead of ironing it. Just makes it easier to see. I absolutely cannot wait to see how great it will look when it’s finished!

    Reply
  4. Lindsay says

    August 15, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    Thanks for sharing this tutorial, your quilt is so cute!! Your blog is inspiring.
    Hoping to win your puff quilt pattern on Lemon Tree Creations, I’ve been wanting to make one for a long time! 🙂

    Reply
  5. Michelle says

    August 15, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    Oh I love this! You definitely inspire me and make quilting seem not quite so scary!
    ps: I saw your puff quilts over at Lemon Tree Creations, and am hoping to win a tutorial!
    -Michelle

    Reply
  6. Taylor says

    August 15, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    This quilt is going to be sooo adorable!!

    Reply
  7. Angela L. says

    August 15, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    I saw some of your Puff Quilt Gorgeousness on Lemon Tree Creations! I’m hoping I win one of those patterns. <3

    Reply
  8. MelKnutson says

    August 15, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    Wow – I fell in love with your puff quilts when I saw them featured on Lemon Tree Creations! They are just adorable and would make such a sweet gift for a new mom. I’d have to make another quilt to keep too! I can see it in a pretty turquoise paired with orange. Great job!
    Melissa

    Reply
  9. Jessica says

    August 15, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    So cute! I found you through the giveaway at Lemon Tree Creations and I am so excited to dig into your tutorials!

    Reply
  10. Becca H. says

    August 15, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    Popping over from Lemon Tree Creations 😉

    Reply
  11. Renee says

    August 15, 2011 at 10:11 pm

    I saw your Puff Quilt Gorgeousness on Lemon Tree Creations but I am in love with this pinwheel quilt too might be on the “to do” list for my daughter I think!

    Reply
  12. Anne Marie says

    August 15, 2011 at 10:58 pm

    Love the pinwheels – just saw your puff quilt on Lemon Tree Creations. My fingers are crossed that I win a copy of this quilt pattern – I am a beginner and this sounds like a good project for me.

    Reply
  13. Cari says

    August 15, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    I saw your Puff Quilt Gorgeousness on Lemon Tree Creations. Hoping I win the pattern too!

    Reply
  14. Jensen Family says

    August 16, 2011 at 12:31 am

    I LOVE quilts! I saw your puff quilt on Lemon Tree Creations and I’m hoping to win so I can try out that awesome pattern! They are beautiful and all the pictures I’ve seen have turned out so nice. I’m excited to follow your blog and I just might have to check in to your pintrest challenges, sounds like fun!

    Reply
  15. Amie {Kitty Cats and Airplanes} says

    August 16, 2011 at 3:44 am

    Oh Heidi this is just beautiful! I LOVE the colors you chose!

    Reply
  16. amy says

    August 16, 2011 at 5:02 am

    So adorable Heidi! Can’t wait to see the final product!

    Reply
  17. Tami says

    August 16, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    I have seen your puff quilts at lemon tree creations and fell in love with them. I have seen your quilts before and have them on my to do list.

    Reply
  18. Alicia says

    August 17, 2011 at 3:22 am

    LOVE THIS! Now I want to make one for each of my kids! Ha- we’ll see if that actually happens, though. 😀

    Reply
  19. ashley--Little Miss Momma says

    August 17, 2011 at 5:23 am

    Girl, you are so talented its crazy! I just signed up to take a beginning quilting class–inspired by your mad skills! xoxo, ashley

    Reply
  20. Bailey says

    August 18, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    Beautiful, you are so talented!
    Also, I saw the puff quilt on Lemon Tree Creations and fell in love!

    Reply
  21. Natalie says

    December 7, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    genius. I wish I’d known this 2 days ago before I cut a bunch of triangles!!

    Reply
  22. Nicole Cet says

    October 21, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    Heidi, how do you make your pinwheels so perfect in the center???? Got any tricks/tips?

    Reply
  23. marisa vieira says

    January 5, 2013 at 11:24 am

    Gostei bastante do modelo catavento, estou animada a fazer uma para experimentar. Quero comparar uma máquina da janome, só que em minha cidade não a encontra!!!!!!!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Quilting Shortcut: the Eight Square Method | HoneyBear Lane says:
    March 6, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    […] with triangles, or rather triangle squares.  I showed you a tutorial on how to make these with my pinwheel quilt, but here is a faster way.  I call it the Eight Square Method. (Ps I’m sure I did not invent […]

    Reply
  2. 29 Patterns to Make a Pinwheel Quilt | Guide Patterns says:
    December 8, 2016 at 4:07 am

    […] Pattern to Make a Pinwheel Quilt […]

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  3. Colorful Pinwheels Baby Quilt – Quilt Instrctions says:
    December 17, 2018 at 7:02 am

    […] ⇒HOW TO MAKE A PINWHEEL QUILT – PATTERN⇐ […]

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    December 25, 2019 at 4:02 am

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