Tutorial: Clockwise Pinwheel Coasters

I have a tutorial for my Clockwise Pinwheel Coasters! You'll need:

• A copy of the templates


• 11 different scraps of fabric: 8 for the pinwheel, 1 for background, 1 for backing, and 1 for binding


• scrap of batting

Gather your supplies. I chose a rainbow of fabrics for the pinwheel. Download and print the templates. I like to iron a few layers of freezer paper to the back of my templates before cutting them out - they're more durable and (I think) the extra thickness makes cutting easier.



Cut the following pieces:

• 5" square of batting


• 5" square of backing fabric


• 2" x 24" strip of binding fabric


• 8 triangles for the pinwheel


• 4 background A pieces


• 4 background B pieces

Lay out your coaster. Alternate background A and B pieces around the outside of the pinwheel.



Line up the background pieces right-sides-together with the triangles. On the right is Background A lined up with a triangle, on the left is Background B lined up with a triangle and ready to sew. Notice the colorful "ears" peaking out behind the background.



Stitch the pieces together using a scant 1/4" seam allowance. Start stitching at the straight edge and stitch towards the "ears." Press the seams open. Lay out your coaster again.



Stitch together pairs of triangles. Press the seams open.



Stitch the squares together. Press the seams open. Make the quilt sandwich (top-batting-backing) and quilt your coaster. Trim. Bind. Repeat 3x more for a set of coasters. Cheers!

A photo posted by @carriebee04 on May 12, 2015 at 6:38pm PDT

Clockwise Pinwheel Coasters

This spring the MMQG hosted a "get inspired" challenge. The guidelines were to find inspiration and use it to make a quilty project. Inspirations and projects were shared at the April meeting, which I had to miss :(

I spent the first months of this year finding inspiration in everything... board games, sunsets, bookcovers. I noticed Evil Twin beers - their labels are fantastic and so many of them would translate easily into modern quilts. Their logo even looks like a quilt block.

I searched and searched for this quilt block. Whirlygig? That's a completely different block. Sawtooth? That's another quilt block, which I think looks less like a sawblade than this one. Sawblade? Pinwheel? 8-pointed star? swirly 8-pointed star? 8-pointed star pieced with templates? It seems like this is one kind of pinwheel block, with the pins wheeling in the opposite direction than normal. Who is the authority on quilt blocks and their names? My searches grew increasingly vague yet wordy.

I stepped away from Google and whipped up templates for what I am calling the Clockwise Pinwheel block. Printed at 100% it will make 4.5" (unfinished) blocks, a perfect size for coasters.

 

A photo posted by @carriebee04 on May 12, 2015 at 6:38pm PDT

I made 4 variations: rainbow, half rainbow, two-tone and monochrome. I'll be making more cool-colored coasters soon so the blue one will not look so lonely. I'll post a tutorial next week as well. Cheers!

Giveaway Day!

It's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day! I'm giving away one of my quilt patterns to a lucky reader. The winner can choose from the Macro Plaid Quilt Pattern:

Or the Two Carat Quilt Pattern:



Or the Pantry Staples Pattern:

Leave a comment by Sunday May 10th to be entered to win. I'll notify the winner via email by Wednesday May 13th. If you need a prompt, let me know what size quilt you usually make. For a bonus entry, follow me on Instagram and leave a comment with your Instagram username.

Can't wait for your pattern? You can purchase your pattern now and still enter the drawing. If you win I'll refund your purchase price (or you can choose a second pattern).

Good luck, and happy Giveaway Day!

Update: congrats to Cheri, commenter #30! I've sent you an email :)

Kid's clothes week - wrap up

I finished Kid's Clothes Week with an Oliver and S Nature Walk shirt (http://oliverands.com/product/OLV-OS022NW.html) in size 4T. I used two Birch organic cotton prints that I had stashed for about 3 years. I think I bought the fabric intending it to be a size 1 Nature Walk shirt. It feels good to have finally put it to use!



My model refused to wear the shirt. Last week his favorite colors were orange and brown. This week he only likes "bright colors" and is on the record saying "that brown is not bright enough." Maybe next week he'll like brown again.

I'm super happy with the results of my Kid's Clothes Week - I finished FOUR garments. None of the garments adhered to the theme, though. I'll make that a goal for next time.