SMS Block-Along Week 4
Welcome to the 4th and final week of the Sew,Mama,Sew! Block-Along! For our last block, we’re encouraging you to try a variation or two of the very simple, but versatile Pinwheel design. If you’re sewing along with us, you can choose to make one or all of these blocks. For more information about our sew-along, see this post.
Pinwheel
The Pinwheel block is simple, quick and easy, so it’s great for beginners. It’s also a wonderful way to make use of your favorite fabrics. Randi has put together an excellent tutorial for making an entire Pinwheel quilt. You can find the instructions for everything from cutting your pieces to binding the edges on her blog, I Have to Say.
If you just want the instruction for making the block, see this pdf. You might also want to try the Double Pinwheel, or the Spinner (aka Spinning Pinwheel.)
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Kelly combined Denyse Schmidt prints with vintage fabrics to create this beautiful Pinwheel quilt and matching pillow. You can see more of her wonderful work on her blog, My Happy Little Life, and in her Flickr set. |
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Melissa made this pretty Pinwheel quilt using a variety of small-scale prints. You can see more of Melissa’s work in her Flickr set. |
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Cartwheel (Whirligiggle) |
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| Just a slight variation on the Pinwheel, the Cartwheel (or Whirligiggle) is another simple spinning block that looks great clustered on a quilt. We’ve seen this version referred to as the Pinwheel Bouquet. | |
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Another peek at the Quilt of the Day! See Michelle’s tutorial to make the Whirligiggles quilt block on her blog, Greeting Arts. |
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If you’re sewing along with us, you can share a photo of your block(s) with our Quilting Month Photo Pool. We’ll be featuring some of the blocks from Week 4 of the Block-Along on our blog on Monday, March 3. Blocks from last week will be featured Monday, February 25, so if you have them completed, please share! If you are posting a photo, please include any relevant information (fabric, patterns, technique) in the photo description. If you’ve blogged about it, please include a link.
53 Responses to “SMS Block-Along Week 4”
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You “block along” quilters are so focused and creative! I love these!
Week four already! Now I know what I’m doing with my free time this weekend! Thanks so much for organizing all of this…
I LOVE all of these, but especially Kelly’s quilt! It is absolutely beautiful! Just my style, simple, but colorful and warm!
I am so loving Kelly’s quilt and matching pillow! Love the Denyse Schmidt fabric! I also love Melissa’s quilt…love the red binding and how the red pinwheels pop!
This reminds me that my mom, who once owned a quilt shop, started me on a pinwheel quilt when I was bored during a school break many moons ago. I should dig that out again!
I’ve always loved the look of pinwheel quilts, but was too intimidated to try. (angles are not my friend!) After reading these tutorials, I’m definitely going to try!
As I tend to gravitate visually to contemporary designs, I think I like the whirligiggle just a bit better than the pinwheel. The pinwheel, although nice on its own, doesn’t have as much visual substance to me as the whirligiggle. The giggle seems to be a bit more graphic with the pinwheel portion of the design taking up more visual space then the background pieces. It makes the design a little more abstract in nature and not as symmetrical as the pinwheel. Just my preferences
I can’t wait to get started! What a fun month–you gave me a good intro into the art of quilting. Thank you!
Oh no, this is the last block of the week?! what about next week? I’m so sad that quilting month is coming to a close! I vote for an extension
I love pinwheal quilts .Great block choice.
I love the pinwheel design, simple, with a touch of moderness! It adds a little more interest than a quilt with square patches. I just love how it all flows!
I love the pinwheel and the variations! I just might have to try this one out.
I love the look of pinwheels!!! Don’t know why i haven’t ever tried them! especially love the quilt with Denyse Schmidt fabrics!!!
I vote for an extension of Quilting month too…….All in favor?
andreaelizabeth
I can’t believe that the month is coming to a close either! Thank you so much for your focus on quilting and for giving us information for all levels of quilters! I have definitely been inspired to try some new things!
Another splendid block to inspire and challenge. Thanksto all who share their creativity and for a wonderful site. What is next?
I love the fabrics Kelly picked out for her pinwheel quilt. I am so excited to try the whirligiggles block, what a great way to use up all my extra quilting material. Off the craft room I go!
The pinwheels look like a lot of fun and easy to do. Thanks for the inspiration!
The first quilt I made was a pinwheel baby quilt…cut from templates, hand pieced and hand quilted…it was almost hard to part with. Luckily my sister-in-law appreciated quilts and the time and love involved!
I vote for more quilting months in the future!!!!
The Pinwheel block is one that I’ll have to try. My sewing to-do-list has grown by leaps and bounds since I’ve found your site. Thanks for all the lovely inspiration!
Oh good! Pinwheels! Thanks again for the instruction links. Canit be that quilting month is almost over? I’m really getting into it! I was actually getting my nerve up to start one. I need another month of inspiration and how-to! Please? I’m looking forward to whatever you cook up next…
Kelly’s quilt is beautiful–I love the fabrics she chose.
How about a block a month?
yay! i love the whirligiggles! I really want to try a doll quilt, so this is perfect! thanks!
After looking at all of the tutorials and instructions it’s going to be hard to decide which one to do. They all look great!
Fantastic! Too many ideas, not enough time to sew…
I like this pattern. I’m going to have to give this one a try this weekend.
Week four already? I haven’t done one block yet……
These are so lovely. I have some Denyse Schmidt prints that this gives me great ideas for…
February is almost over? It went so fast – I love the pinwheels and Michelle’s quilt is beautiful!
I’ve always liked pinwheels. The quilt I made for my dd’s bed is the pinwheel done with 30′s repro fabrics.
The last time I sewed pinwheels I had to un-sew a few times. Be careful when piecing them together .
We’re at the end already??
I love how the white / pale backgrounds really set these quilts off.
Can’t you turn Quilt Month into Quilt Quarter? Thanks for all the good ideas and links to beautiful quilts. This has been an inspiring month!
Cute! I can’t believe it’s almost over!
i like whirlygigs.. and things that spin and dont make me puke! LOL thanks for this weeks quilts, they are all beautiful and now I am about to check out all the links!
Lissa
I LOVE that quilt by Kelly – I fell in love with the pinwheel pattern all over again!
Dang! This is the last week? I love Denyse Schmidt fabric and it looks great in a pinwheel quilt.
I used paper piecing to make some pinwheels and it was so easy!
This is a really neat looking block.
Can’t wait to try that whirligiggle square–it is very cute, and more appealing to me than the traditonal pinwheel. I find myself searching for other simple blocks to try out–to continue the fun and assign myself a block a week after the formal fun here is over!
I’m glad you included the pinwheel – it is my most favorite quilt block!
oh awesome! I’m excited to try this
Have you ladies seen this tutorial? It’s such a fun variation of the block!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/campfollowerbagsandquilts/sets/72157603964776160/
Today I told my husband that I want to make a quilt. This has been such an inspiring month.
I love pinwheels, such a fun block!
Both sets of block designs and quilts are just beautiful!
I love pinwheel blocks! It’s a versatile pattern in that it looks good with high-contrast fabrics as well as low-contrast fabrics (such as various florals or prints of similar “value”). I’ve been meaning to do some projects using this block pattern, as I need to start doing things that will teach me to match points. A lot of the strippy things I’ve done don’t require any point matching!
I LOVE the Whirligiggle!!! I especially love the blue polka dot on white in the sample square. I may have to do that – just two fabrics….
Love the whirlygiggles!
i love this pattern. it’s so playful and fun!
I loved the Whirligiggles blocks. I´ll try making one this week. Thank you so much for all the tutorials
It can’t be that February is almost over! I’ve enjoyed checking your site each day.