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Good Morning Happy Good Friday, Happy Easter and Happy Passover to all
I would like to strip piece pinwheel blocks for a baby quilt I am making but can't figure out the size of strips I need to make a 6 inch finished pinwheel block (my alternate blocks are 6 1/2 unfinished) I've tried net searching and most of the info is for individual squares and I've gone through half my FMQ practice muslin stash trying to figure it out, can someone help me PLEASE !!!!!!
Thank you
Evelyn--will you be sewing the pinwheel blocks to your alternate blocks? If so, do they not need to be 6-1/2 as well?
Are you going to make the pinwheels by sewing two squares on the diagonal and then cutting them to make two triangle squares?
Maybe this will help.
http://www.quiltdesignnw.com/PDF/Pin...ting_chart.pdf
See if this works
(I'm sitting here trying to figure this out, and it's starting to drive me a little batty!)
Thank you the chart is great but it is for cutting the triangles individually. I was hoping to strip piece them but if I can't strip piece the hst it will definitely help. It really is great and I know it will be very helpful.
I am going to sew the pinwheels to my alternate blocks which are 6 1/2 inches unfinished therefore will be 6 inches finished.
I may just have to stick with a four patch but will not give up on the stripped pieced pinwheel.
I found this website, you input your block size and then it breaks it down.
http://www.waukinvnetcorp.com/myquil...q_pinwheel.php
I haven't tried out these instructions for accuracy, but it does the math for a lot of the blocks. If they are accurate, this website is going to be invaluable!
I just got the book "Patchwork Minus Mathwork" from Clotilde. They do a lot of math for squares, triangles, diamonds, rectangles. I'm not that familiar with how the pinwheels go together, so I'm not sure if this book would cover it.
Generally, I think of how many square inches the size the quilt I want to make will be, and figure out if the amount of fabric I'm buying will cover that amount of square inches. I do this to think of how much to buy if I see some coordinates that would make a great quilt, but don't have a particular quilt pattern design in mind when I'm purchasing. I think of how much fabric is usually needed for backing for a certain size quiilt, and I make sure I purchase that much for the front. It has worked out for me so far. This may not be the most scientific and may give me left-overs, but I'd rather have left-overs than be short, it helps to build the stash! AFter all, that's what quilting is all about, isn't it?
If you need to be closer in your calculations, this won't help you.
Also, I know that some stores are more careless about cutting their fabric straight. I am picky about this, because I've gotten some pieces home and they were cut so crooked, you couldn't get the block out of them because of waste and trying to straighten the cut edges. Sometimes I'll order 1/3 of a yard instead of 1/4 of a yard, just to make sure I have enough in case I need to cut some off for waste because they cut it crooked. Love it when they cut it with a rotary cutter and a long ruler on a mat, instead of just eyeballing it and cutting it on a counter. My closest chain store is careless about how they cut fabric, and it makes me crazy.
To make a 6" finished pinwheel block, you need to make 4- 3 1/2" unfinished HSTs (3" finished) and sew those together. There are 101 ways to make HSTs, anyone of these methods will work for you. What method is comfortable for you?
The only way I know to strip piece HSTs is to cut your strips on the bias. I saw this done once on a Fons and Porter episode. I know I have some books that explain this method. I think Marsha McCloskey uses this method a lot.
I did a quick google search and found this blog. The lady here is making 2 1/2" (2" finished HSTs). You need to cut your strips at 3 1/2". Do a practice try before you cut and sew all your fabric first (been there, done that).
http://loisarnold.blogspot.ca/2012/0...rial-bias.html
just wanted to comment that I do so many trial runs when trying to figure out the math that I always use paper first. I do all my cutting & sewing (with tape) on printer paper or newspaper. When I get something I'm satisfied with, I graduate to real fabric. Then I waste all my fabric trying to fmq. lolQuote:
Originally Posted by mrsg730
I make half square triangles by adding 7/8 to the size of the block--for a 6in block cut a strip 6 7/8 in wide and then cut into 6 7/8 in squares, for quarter square triangles add 1 1/4, to the size of the finished block you want to make. I have no idea if this makes sense to anyone but me! I mostly lurk here on the forum.
Thank you. I kept seeing the 7/8th in pattern's but it didn't occur to me I could use that as a standard formula and I couldn't make the math work. So yes, as long as I don't think about it too hard, it does make sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota Girl
My program says 6 7/8" as well. Good luck!!
In my mind Denis's math is correct but as he says I would do a test run first.
Thank you all, I couldn't do fractions as a kid, I couldn't do fractions as a mother and now as you can see I can't do fractions as a quilter LOL. Since this quilt is for a baby shower gift I may stick to the four patch which I do well but I will be making quilts for my four grandchildren so I will do a couple of test runs and use the pinwheels for some of those.