Pinwheel Sampler Part 1

I am so pleased with

Alyssa's finished quilt top.

I wish I could say that my LQS had more of the white I need, but no such luck so I decided to stew a couple days on the borders before attaching them. I had envisioned a 2" white to continue to "float" the blocks, then either a blue or pink strip, finished with about 6" of the white. They had a pure white at the LQS that was close enough I could use for the thick outside strip, but it couldn't be used right next to the other soft white.

Before I send them both out to my quilter to do her magic, I thought it would be fun to have both girls pick something for her quilt onto the top. Katelyn doesn't even hesitate and and picks butterflies, they'll be perfect with the soft colors of the quilt. Alyssa pipes up after a minute and announces that she wants monkeys eating bananas. It is so her, I think I am going to find out if Amy could do it.

I had a few struggles with the oddly sized blocks, especially when attaching the final vertical strip, I had to rip out an inset seam not once, not twice but three times until the tiles fit together right.

This is one of my favorite blocks, I can't remember anymore if this was once of Rachel'spinwheels or one I choose from Quilter's Cache where many of my other pinwheel patterns came from. I just love the mix of stripes and floral fabric.

Unfortunately, I had other things going on today... buying new tomato plants for the garden being a important one, so I didn't get Katelyn's done. I have the strips ready to go together, but I was so disappointed that I couldn't get more of that white that I lost my drive when I got home to get hers assembled. I thought I would post my in progress picture. I think this one will be perfect too. I am still amazed that I was able to complete 2 quilt tops with 1 layer cake (well, and lots of background fabric--5 yrds!).

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.

Kami

An All-Nighter...

NOT.

I am giving up on finishing tonight. I have run out of my white background fabric, I'm making poor design decisions, and I desperately need sleep. I only have about 2-3 hours of work left, so I will be up early in the morning.

I think I will still be able to get them both finished I just won't be able to piece the white border all the way around until after the fabric store opens. Cross your fingers with me that they have the fabric. I am not holding my breath, the last time I was in there, I bought 3 yrds and that was everything left on the bolt. They were going to try to reorder since it had been so popular, but you never know.

I am off to dreamland. I will show off the finished tops in the morning.

Kami

Pinwheels

I have been up to my eyeballs in pinwheel blocks for the last 2 months. If you don't know, psiquilt has been hosting a pinwheel quilt along. I had a layer cake that I loved the fabrics but had been ignored for over a year. So I decided to join.

I started out as a perfectly happy follower, two each of 8 different 12" pinwheels. but I had these small scraps that I didn't want to throw away. At the same time, I realized that 4 rows of 4-12" blocks would not inspire me to finish.... I have two girls, so since we did 2 of each style I decided to split the blocks in half. Eight 12" blocks for each girls, but that would make a pretty small quilt not what I was envisioning them cuddling under watching movies. So I started using my scraps, and sewing various sized pinwheels. Last night I finished the last six for both quilts.

Each quilt has
eight-12" block
one-9" block
three-8" blocks
two-6 1/2" blocks
two-6" blocks
two-5" blocks
four-4" blocks

That is 22 blocks for each quilt, in 7 sizes so I sketched out a map of what I hope each quilt will look like. I want of the pinwheels to look like they are floating on a white background. So far I love it, but since the deadline is this Saturday, to have all the quilts quilted for a virtual parade, I am disappointed that mine will only be a top (or 2) to show off.

Here are my two quilts without any of the white background fabric "filler" Looks like I may be pulling an all-nighter tomorrow to get the two of them finished.

Is anyone else racing to get a project done? I would love to hear about it.

Kami