Pinwheel Baby Quilt Top Tutorial

This tutorial is for the slightly more adventurous beginner.  It's honestly not that much harder than the 4-patch, but I won't be giving quite as much detail, so if some things aren't making sense then head back to the other tutorial.  I chose the pinwheel, because there's no reason to be scared of triangles, and they make super cute kid quilts.

This is the quilt top we will be making:  It's final measurements are about 36" x 36."

Fabric Requirements:
Theme fabric (Pink Cupcakes)- 1/3 yd.
Light Fabric (Circles)- 1/3 yd.
Dark Fabric (Brown Cupcakes)- 1/3 yd.
Inner Border (Hot Pink)- 1/4 yd.
Outer Border (Pink Cupcakes)- 3/4 yd. (for a total of 1 1/4 yd.)
Backing- 1 1/4 yd. (not shown, but will be the back of your quilt)
Binding (not shown, but I'll be using the same fabric as Inner Border) 1/3 yd. (for a total of 5/8 yd if you decide to make it the same fabric as the inner border)

 
1- We'll first cut the light and dark fabrics for the pinwheels.  You'll need to cut 2 strips of your light fabric at 5" (remember to line up the selvages and then fold again).  Your strips with be 5" x 42"

2- Cut off the selvages, and then cut 10 squares that are 5" (10 squares equals 5 cuts since your fabric is still folded in half once).

3- Repeat steps 1 & 2 with your dark fabric, so that you have 10 squares that are 5" in each fabric.

4- Next, take each of your light squares, and draw a line diagonally on the back (wrong side of the fabric).  You can use any old pen, because it's not going to remain in your quilt.

5- Layer a light square on top of a dark square right sides of the fabric facing each other (the marked line should be facing up toward you).  Layer all 10 squares.  Pin in place if you're nervous about them shifting.

6- Line up the right of your foot with the line, and sew a scant 1/4."  This means hug the line, because you want your seams to be slightly less than 1/4."

When you get to the end of the side DON'T cut the thread yet.  We are going to chain piece all of our blocks at the same time.  This means that you lift up your presser foot, pull back your block a little and then place your next block in and sew as you did before.  Once all 10 of your blocks have been sewn then you can cut off the thread.  This saves time and thread.

7- Without cutting the triangles apart, flip them all around and sew down the other side of the line (remember to hug the line for a scant 1/4" seam).  Keep a firm grip on them as you sew down the line, so that the other squares attached don't pull it off the line.

 8- Using your sewing scissors cut both threads connecting the squares and then cut down the pen line of each square.  You will have 20 triangles.  See below:

9- Press the seams toward the dark fabric.  You will have 2 little dog ears on each block.  Cut them off with your sewing scissors, so that it is a smooth square again.

Before

After

10- Lay out all of your smaller squares to form 5 pinwheels.  Make sure all of your squares are rotated in the correct direction.

We are going to sew side by side and then top to bottom.  Take the squares on the right and place them on top of the squares on the left, so that right sides are facing each other.  See below:

You are going to be sewing down the right hand side of these blocks, so when you stack these blocks make sure they are all going the same direction, so that you don't accidentally sew the wrong side.  Keep track of which side you're sewing on as you take them to your sewing machine.  I like to place the edge that I will be sewing parallel to my machine, so that I don't get confused.

11- Again, chain piece all of your blocks.  You'll notice that one corner where the triangles meet should interlock with seams touching.  Pin it in place. 

Press the seams open to avoid bulkiness and confusion. 


12-  Lay out your blocks.  Flip the bottom of the block onto the top of it, so that right sides are facing each other. 

You will be sewing along the bottom.  First, line up the center section of seams and pin it in place.  After sewing the blocks, press the seams open.

And wa-lah! You have a pinwheel block!



13- Measure your blocks to determine the size of the smallest block.  Square up all of your blocks to that size.  My blocks are 8 7/8 inches.  You will need to cut 4 theme blocks the same size as your pinwheel blocks.  You should be able to get all 4 blocks from one strip (for me it was 8 7/8" x 42")

 14- Lay out all of your blocks.  You will have 3 rows of 3 blocks.  We are going to assemble the blocks within each row together first.  Take the blocks in the middle and lay them right side down onto the blocks to their left.  See below:


Remember that you are sewing down the right side of the block, so keep track of that side as you stack the 3 rows and take them to your machine.

Once all 3 sets of blocks are sewn, cut your thread and this time you are going to press your seams toward the themed fabric.

15- Lay your blocks back out, and repeat the process by taking the block on the right and placing it on top (right side of fabric facing down) of the middle block.

Chain piece them again and press seams toward the themed fabric.

 16- Now we're going to sew the rows together.   Take the bottom row and flip it up onto the top row (so that it's upside down and right side is facing in).  You will be sewing along the bottom edge.  See below:

This is where pinning is really important.  You want line up the center blocks with seams interlocking so that they touch each other and pin in place on both ends of the middle block.

Sew down the entire bottom edge, and then press the seams open.


17- Repeat the same process with the bottom row, and you have the center of the quilt done.

18-  It's time to sew on the borders.  You will need 4 strips that are 2" wide each from your inner border fabric & 4 strips that are 4 1/2" wide from your outer border fabric.  (Don't forget to cut off the selvages)
 

19- You are going to sew a strip of the inner border along the right and left sides of the quilt first.  The right sides of the fabric should be facing each other, so you will see the quilt top facing up at you.  (If you have a solid colored fabric look closely to see if there is a right side to the fabric.  Sometimes it doesn't matter which side you use).



You will have fabric left over off the edge.  Using either sewing scissors or your rotary cutter you will need to trim the border fabric to be even with the other fabric.

Press the seams toward the border.  

20- Repeat this same process when adding the inner border on the top and bottom of the quilt.


21- Adding the outer borders is done the same exact way we just added the inner borders. Remember to press the seams toward the outer border.


Congratulations - you just completed the quilt top!  I will post the next step on how to layer it together and top stitch the quilt.