Pinwheel Stitch Along: Week One

Here we are at week one of our Pinwheel Stitch Along.  This week, your goal is to get your fabrics ready to go so we can start stitching our blocks next week.  In order to help you use some of those precuts we've all been hoarding, I will be giving you instructions for three different sizes of this quilt.  Keep in mind, you can make it bigger or smaller by adding additional blocks. :-)
Edited 3/20/11
Charm Pack Pinwheel Quilt:

• Top: 12 24 charm squares
• Backing: 3/4 yard or 30 charms if you want to piece the back
• Binding: 1/4 yard
• Final Dimensions: Approx. 17" x 22"

Fat Quarters Pinwheel Quilt:

• Top: 6 fat quarters - cut two four 8" squares from each print (12 24 total squares)
• Backing: 1 yard
• Binding: 1/3 to 1/2 yard
• Note: if you are using FQ, you can cut 10" squares to make this a little bigger (see layer cake version)
• Final Dimensions: Approx. 29" x 38"

Layer Cake Pinwheel Quilt:

• Top: 12 24 layer cake squares
• Backing: 1 yard + 10 layer cake squares (pieced back) or 1-1/2 yards for a non-pieced backing
• Binding: 1/2 yard
• Final Dimensions: Approx. 38" x 50"

When choosing your fabrics, you want to select half that read as a "light" print and half that read as a "dark" print so that your pinwheels will be more noticeable when you put the quilt together.  Basically, you don't want the two prints in the pair to blend together too much.  See the pinwheel quilt photo below as a reference.  Note - your layer cake and charm pack versions will be a little scrappier than the FQ version since you will have 12 24 prints instead of 6.

This week, you'll need to collect your fabrics, cut them if needed (FQ version), and then separate your fabrics into 6 12 pairs - each pair of prints should contrast each other - one "light" and one "dark" print. That's it!  Later on this week, I will show you the fabrics I will be using and then next Monday, I will show you a quick method for making the half-square triangles and how to put your pinwheel blocks together. Make sure you have some pins ready ... that is key to successful piecing!

We'd love to see that fabrics you'll be using ... share them in our Flickr group pool.

Happy Sewing! :-)