Sweet Tweet Sew Along
Posted by Lois Plantt on
Tools
Cutting mat and rotary cutter.
Iron and best press
Pencil and eraser
24½ x 6½ ruler
Creative grid (smn9) ½ inch for marking HST’s
Minimum 8½ squaring ruler with diagonal markings.
Erasable marking pen.
Applique scissors and shark cutter if you have one.
1/4” foot and F foot for applique.
1 meter of fusible webbing.
1.5 meters of tear away stabilizer.
Fabric and Cutting
The options are endless for fabric choices in this quilt. I used a white tone on tone of various patterns, some pieces from the Hello Sunshine line, and various scraps of both cotton and batik for my applique. The only recommendation is NOT to use a directional fabric in your blocks. I suggest reading through the cutting instructions and understanding what each fabric is being used for.
As you go through your cutting process, make sure you label each pile with the size of the cuts and number of pieces.
When cutting your 2 7/8” squares mark your rule with glow tape, for ease of cutting and ease of finding the correct measurement each time.
Before you cut your 5 ¼” squares (tone on tone, and teal) , you are going to best PRESS your fabric 3 times. These are going to be cut into triangles and the best press will help eliminate stretching.
For the remainder of the cutting follow instructions as given, with the exception of the binding. The designer cuts a 2 ¼ width, I did mine 2 ½ inch as I always do. The choice is yours.
Let's Sew
Before we begin please watch the video on the construction of the pinwheel, I do a few steps differently then the instructions given.
All seams allowances through out this block will be sewn with a scant ¼ seam. I suggest making a test block to make sure your settings are going to work to achieve the desired finished measurements of the block.
We are going to start with our 38 pinwheels, so gather up your 2 7/8” squares of both colours.
First you are going to mark all of your teal squares as shown in the video.
You should have a total of 152 HST’s all pressed to the dark, they will be squared to 2 ½ x 2 ½ .
You are now going to construct your 38 pinwheels, which will be squared to 4 ½ x 4 ½.
As I mentioned in the video, pay attention to the orientation of your pieces so they all come out the same way.
As you can see in the photo mine are not identical, did I take them apart and fix them, no I didn’t, I caught the mistake early enough and I will use the 4 different ones in my boarder.
Once you have completed your 38 pinwheel blocks set them aside for now and we are going to move on to our large pinwheel blocks.
Large pinwheel blocks will be constructed with a regular ¼” seam allowance, pay close attention to the placement of fabric in the instruction. Remember you are working with a bias edge that will stretch easily, so take care not to pull your fabric.
Once you have completed a unit you are going to remove the 3 stitches in the middle as you did with your small pinwheels to reduce the bulk in the middle. Make 3, and square to 8 ½” x 8 ½”.
Making Units A,B and C
Before you begin this section, I suggest you layout your blocks in rows pleasing to you. If you look on page 42 at the assembling diagram you will see each unit is labeled A,B and C.
After I had my blocks laid out the way I wanted, I took a picture on my phone, so I had something to refer to later.
Pick out all of your A units (13) follow instructions for this unit. After they are pressed return them to your layout using your picture as a reference.
Repeat the same steps for your B units and C unit.
Finally!!
I do believe I have given you enough work to keep you busy for awhile.
In the next section, we will be covering the applique and assembly portion. I have done things very differently in the applique, I highly recommend you follow along for some great tips and tricks that will make your project so much easier.
In the meantime here are a few teasers of these cute little birdies.
