April 2008 BOM

QAF Block of the Month

April 2008

Whirlwind

10 1/2" (unfinished), 10" (finished)

Another 'spring-y' block this month. I think it looks a little like a flower. This is a block variously called Whirlwind, Pinwheel, Double Pinwheel, etc. It's an easy block to make, but a little more involved than the last few months' blocks. But never fear, follow the directions to the letter, and watch both your scant 1/4" seam allowances AND your squaring up of the components of the block.

This month we are calling for one pastel color, one green, any shade on the yellow side of the spectrum, and a white or white on white fabric. Your pastel can be any flower color, in pastel, like yellow, pink, peach. Dark purple for iris is not pastel. <g> Your green can be light to dark, but needs to be a green with more yellow than blue. We think that you may all be able to make this block from your stashes, given this much color latitude. You may make 2 sets in each colorway (pastel and green), then if you make more, use another pastel and green fabric. See how we colored the sample quilt layout below for ideas.

Oh, and to keep you from having leftover components while making these, this BOM is a two-fer. That is, as you are making those quarter-square triangle parts, you will notice that two out of four of the pieced patches won't 'go' in your block, as above. BUT, if you make another block, you will find that those extra pieced patches will make a block where the WHITE is the center pinwheel. So, an entry in this BOM will be one block with a pastel center and one block with the white in the center. The cutting and assembly instructions include both blocks.

Cut for each SET of blocks:

Step 1: Mark a diagonal line corner to corner on the back of each of your white squares. Place each white square RST with a pastel square. Stitch on each side of the drawn line. Cut all apart on the drawn line and press to the pastel fabric. Pressing these well will help you later, so don't skip this step.

Step 2: Square up. Please do not skip this step when making these BOMs. If you do not have a square up ruler that is at least 6", it is suggested that you get one. Line up the diagonal line on your square ruler with the sewn line and trim block to 6" square. Set these aside.

Step 3: Mark a diagonal line corner to corner on the back of each of the green squares. Place a green square RST with one of the pastel and white HST you just made. Line up the DRAWN LINE on the back of the green square so that it lies ACROSS the SEWN line on the pastel/white square. Double check this lineup and then stitch on either side of the drawn line. Cut apart on the drawn line, and press to the green. Repeat with the other 3 sets of squares.

Step 4: Press them all well, and square each of these patches to 5 1/2". When you are squaring them up this time, place the ruler with the diagonal line on the longer sewn seam. At the same time, place the spot on the ruler where the 2 3/4" lines intersect right on the spot where the two seamlines intersect. This will keep this part of the block 'centered'. NOTE: We almost always offer our directions to include these HST and QST pieces that are slightly larger than the piece you actually need, and then direct you, as here, to square them up to a certain size. We feel this helps newbies a lot, and even seasoned piecers benefit from this 'trick'.

Step 5: You now have 8 pieced patches. Look at them carefully, and choose 4 that have the pastel lined up in the same way. Repeat with the other 4. You will have two stacks that are identical within the stack, but are different from each other. Lay out the stacks of 4 just as in the picture above. You will have one where the pastel blades are in the center, and one where the white blades are in the center. Stitch each of these sets of 4 as per the picture, two over two, and press your blocks. Square up to 10 1/2" and you are done.

When you enter your BOMs this time, remember that this set of two blocks is ONE entry.