As you can see I am making good progress on my Rhubarb Whirl blocks. More on that later.
No, I didn't lose my mind and start making light blue pinwheels to go with it. The blue pinwheels are blocks from a project Sara started a year or so ago. A dear friend of hers is expecting a baby boy in a couple of months and she thinks this may be the perfect thing to give as a baby gift. She had the half square triangles all together, but hadn't started on the blocks yet. I put it together for her last week.
You know something? It isn't easy to put together blocks or block units that someone else has sewn. I suppose it is because everyone's quarter inch seam allowance is a bit different, which seems odd. You would think a quarter inch would be a quarter inch, but it doesn't seem to work out that way. I had to do a bit of unsewing, but in the end, the 25 blocks came together all right. The baby to be's daddy is a helicopter pilot, so we will have it quilted in an aeronautical theme. My quilter always has awesome ideas, and I know she will come up with something outstanding.
Have you ever sewn together someone else's blocks? I had a friend who bought dozens of 1930's bow tie blocks at an antique shop with the idea of sewing them into a quilt. She ended up taking every single block apart and re-sewing it! I have to say, that quilt was one of the most beautiful I have seen, so her efforts were worth it. But, my goodness, what a lot of work.
45 responses to “Dueling Pinwheels”
Oh my, what a lot of work to take apart those bow tie blocks!
I discovered the hard way that quarter inch seam feet, even on the same machine, vary. I started my hubby’s log cabin quilt with the quarter inch seam foot that came with my machine and switched, mid project, to one with a flange. It’s one manufactured by my machine’s manufacturer so I never gave a moment’s thought to whether the seams would be exactly the same. But when I started to piece together the blocks, I could tell which had been sewn using the first foot and which had been sewing using the second foot. If I’d chosen blocks with fewer seams, the difference might not have been so noticeable. Thankfully the difference wasn’t enough to keep me from making it work but it taught me a lesson …
Oh my, what a lot of work to take apart those bow tie blocks!
I discovered the hard way that quarter inch seam feet, even on the same machine, vary. I started my hubby’s log cabin quilt with the quarter inch seam foot that came with my machine and switched, mid project, to one with a flange. It’s one manufactured by my machine’s manufacturer so I never gave a moment’s thought to whether the seams would be exactly the same. But when I started to piece together the blocks, I could tell which had been sewn using the first foot and which had been sewing using the second foot. If I’d chosen blocks with fewer seams, the difference might not have been so noticeable. Thankfully the difference wasn’t enough to keep me from making it work but it taught me a lesson …
Oh my, what a lot of work to take apart those bow tie blocks!
I discovered the hard way that quarter inch seam feet, even on the same machine, vary. I started my hubby’s log cabin quilt with the quarter inch seam foot that came with my machine and switched, mid project, to one with a flange. It’s one manufactured by my machine’s manufacturer so I never gave a moment’s thought to whether the seams would be exactly the same. But when I started to piece together the blocks, I could tell which had been sewn using the first foot and which had been sewing using the second foot. If I’d chosen blocks with fewer seams, the difference might not have been so noticeable. Thankfully the difference wasn’t enough to keep me from making it work but it taught me a lesson …
What a sweet baby quilt for a little boy. Even more fun than sewing one person’s blocks is sewing blocks from a whole bunch of people….it is amazing how a 12″ block can vary in size by almost a full inch!
What a sweet baby quilt for a little boy. Even more fun than sewing one person’s blocks is sewing blocks from a whole bunch of people….it is amazing how a 12″ block can vary in size by almost a full inch!
What a sweet baby quilt for a little boy. Even more fun than sewing one person’s blocks is sewing blocks from a whole bunch of people….it is amazing how a 12″ block can vary in size by almost a full inch!
I have worked on group quilt tops and yes….everyone sews a bit different. Lots of redo’s but in the long run very nice tops. Love your pinwheels
I have worked on group quilt tops and yes….everyone sews a bit different. Lots of redo’s but in the long run very nice tops. Love your pinwheels
I have worked on group quilt tops and yes….everyone sews a bit different. Lots of redo’s but in the long run very nice tops. Love your pinwheels
Even with hand quilting in a group, you will find different size stitches and seams. I once went to a lecture with Mary Ellen Hopkins who said not to worry if you have a 1/4″ or not, just keep them all the same. No one will tear a quilt apart to look. 🙂
Even with hand quilting in a group, you will find different size stitches and seams. I once went to a lecture with Mary Ellen Hopkins who said not to worry if you have a 1/4″ or not, just keep them all the same. No one will tear a quilt apart to look. 🙂
Even with hand quilting in a group, you will find different size stitches and seams. I once went to a lecture with Mary Ellen Hopkins who said not to worry if you have a 1/4″ or not, just keep them all the same. No one will tear a quilt apart to look. 🙂
Love both pinwheel settings and fabrics. Yum! You are so kind to help Sara out by sewing her HSTs into pinwheels and then sewing the blocks together.
I read that Mary Ellen Hopkins also said you don’t need a 1/4″ foot, just sew using the regular presser foot with it positioned at the fabric edge. She called that your PPM (personal private measurement) and the important thing was to keep using that same presser foot and the same machine for the whole project.
Interesting topic.
Hugs!
Love both pinwheel settings and fabrics. Yum! You are so kind to help Sara out by sewing her HSTs into pinwheels and then sewing the blocks together.
I read that Mary Ellen Hopkins also said you don’t need a 1/4″ foot, just sew using the regular presser foot with it positioned at the fabric edge. She called that your PPM (personal private measurement) and the important thing was to keep using that same presser foot and the same machine for the whole project.
Interesting topic.
Hugs!
Love both pinwheel settings and fabrics. Yum! You are so kind to help Sara out by sewing her HSTs into pinwheels and then sewing the blocks together.
I read that Mary Ellen Hopkins also said you don’t need a 1/4″ foot, just sew using the regular presser foot with it positioned at the fabric edge. She called that your PPM (personal private measurement) and the important thing was to keep using that same presser foot and the same machine for the whole project.
Interesting topic.
Hugs!
Good Morning Nicole,
Your story caused me to remember what happened to two ladies in a quilt ministry I participate in at my church. They decided to each make a part of a quilt top. When they held their portions of the top together, one ladies was several inches larger than her friends. The variation between machines, sewing methods and pressing styles made an enormous difference. I guess it’s a cautionary experience when sharing duties.
Good Morning Nicole,
Your story caused me to remember what happened to two ladies in a quilt ministry I participate in at my church. They decided to each make a part of a quilt top. When they held their portions of the top together, one ladies was several inches larger than her friends. The variation between machines, sewing methods and pressing styles made an enormous difference. I guess it’s a cautionary experience when sharing duties.
Good Morning Nicole,
Your story caused me to remember what happened to two ladies in a quilt ministry I participate in at my church. They decided to each make a part of a quilt top. When they held their portions of the top together, one ladies was several inches larger than her friends. The variation between machines, sewing methods and pressing styles made an enormous difference. I guess it’s a cautionary experience when sharing duties.
A group of friends (5 of us) made a pinwheel quilt for a charity a couple of years ago. One of the gals had smaller blocks than the rest of us because she didn’t use a quarter inch foot. But pinwheels are just so forgiving – we trimmed them all very quickly and put the quilt together just perfectly.
A group of friends (5 of us) made a pinwheel quilt for a charity a couple of years ago. One of the gals had smaller blocks than the rest of us because she didn’t use a quarter inch foot. But pinwheels are just so forgiving – we trimmed them all very quickly and put the quilt together just perfectly.
A group of friends (5 of us) made a pinwheel quilt for a charity a couple of years ago. One of the gals had smaller blocks than the rest of us because she didn’t use a quarter inch foot. But pinwheels are just so forgiving – we trimmed them all very quickly and put the quilt together just perfectly.
I agree. It’s amazing how much variance there is in a quarter inch. I have a fatter quarter inch seam myself, as opposed to a scant quarter inch. One thread width makes all the difference in the world when multiplied by dozens and dozens of seams. That’s why online block swaps, while very fun, can be so frustrating to participate in. I still have several groups of {beautiful} blocks that I aquired through swaps that I haven’t done anything with just because I’m avoiding the laborious and tedious job of adjusting them to make them all similar in size.
Always loved that Rhubarb Whirl pattern.
I agree. It’s amazing how much variance there is in a quarter inch. I have a fatter quarter inch seam myself, as opposed to a scant quarter inch. One thread width makes all the difference in the world when multiplied by dozens and dozens of seams. That’s why online block swaps, while very fun, can be so frustrating to participate in. I still have several groups of {beautiful} blocks that I aquired through swaps that I haven’t done anything with just because I’m avoiding the laborious and tedious job of adjusting them to make them all similar in size.
Always loved that Rhubarb Whirl pattern.
I agree. It’s amazing how much variance there is in a quarter inch. I have a fatter quarter inch seam myself, as opposed to a scant quarter inch. One thread width makes all the difference in the world when multiplied by dozens and dozens of seams. That’s why online block swaps, while very fun, can be so frustrating to participate in. I still have several groups of {beautiful} blocks that I aquired through swaps that I haven’t done anything with just because I’m avoiding the laborious and tedious job of adjusting them to make them all similar in size.
Always loved that Rhubarb Whirl pattern.
There isn’t too much I can add to the comments that’s different. I’ve had similar experiences when working with others on blocks. I’ve also heard that once you begin a project you should use the same machine all the way through because of varying quarter inches. All presser feet are not created equally! Your finish of Sara’s blocks is so lovely & I know that mom-to-be will cherish that quilt!
There isn’t too much I can add to the comments that’s different. I’ve had similar experiences when working with others on blocks. I’ve also heard that once you begin a project you should use the same machine all the way through because of varying quarter inches. All presser feet are not created equally! Your finish of Sara’s blocks is so lovely & I know that mom-to-be will cherish that quilt!
There isn’t too much I can add to the comments that’s different. I’ve had similar experiences when working with others on blocks. I’ve also heard that once you begin a project you should use the same machine all the way through because of varying quarter inches. All presser feet are not created equally! Your finish of Sara’s blocks is so lovely & I know that mom-to-be will cherish that quilt!
yep, 1 time. it was a row by row done by my sewing circle. we were making it for a member who was going through chemo. of course, one row was waaaay off and i had no choice but to trim it down to fit.
;p
yep, 1 time. it was a row by row done by my sewing circle. we were making it for a member who was going through chemo. of course, one row was waaaay off and i had no choice but to trim it down to fit.
;p
yep, 1 time. it was a row by row done by my sewing circle. we were making it for a member who was going through chemo. of course, one row was waaaay off and i had no choice but to trim it down to fit.
;p
Love how the Rhubarb Whirl is looking, such a rich collection of colors.
Love how the Rhubarb Whirl is looking, such a rich collection of colors.
Love how the Rhubarb Whirl is looking, such a rich collection of colors.
Don’t we all have UFO’s in our sewing rooms? My cousin gave me one of her UFO’s, and I really enjoyed finishing it! I can’t seem to finish my own, though!
Don’t we all have UFO’s in our sewing rooms? My cousin gave me one of her UFO’s, and I really enjoyed finishing it! I can’t seem to finish my own, though!
Don’t we all have UFO’s in our sewing rooms? My cousin gave me one of her UFO’s, and I really enjoyed finishing it! I can’t seem to finish my own, though!
Where did you get the pattern for the Rhubarb Whirl Blocks. It is just lovely
Where did you get the pattern for the Rhubarb Whirl Blocks. It is just lovely
Where did you get the pattern for the Rhubarb Whirl Blocks. It is just lovely
If you’ve ever taken a class with Bonnie Hunter, that’s the first thing she does, has everyone test their quarter inch. She has a nifty guide you can buy so you can mark 1/4″ on various machines you might use.
If you’ve ever taken a class with Bonnie Hunter, that’s the first thing she does, has everyone test their quarter inch. She has a nifty guide you can buy so you can mark 1/4″ on various machines you might use.
If you’ve ever taken a class with Bonnie Hunter, that’s the first thing she does, has everyone test their quarter inch. She has a nifty guide you can buy so you can mark 1/4″ on various machines you might use.
Here’s a test, you don’t really need fancy tools either. Cut four two-inch squares very accurately. Make them into a four-patch. This should measure exactly 3.5 inches. If it doesn’t, adjust your seam by either putting a mark on your sewing machine with tape where you should be lining up your raw edge, or if your machine allows it, move your needle a smidge. Those who use a straight stitch only machine or a foot with a round needle sized opening will have to do the former.
I took a permanent marker and drew a red line right on the bed of my sewing machine. Crossing the red indicates danger! It beats all the gauges and feet I’ve seen!
Here’s a test, you don’t really need fancy tools either. Cut four two-inch squares very accurately. Make them into a four-patch. This should measure exactly 3.5 inches. If it doesn’t, adjust your seam by either putting a mark on your sewing machine with tape where you should be lining up your raw edge, or if your machine allows it, move your needle a smidge. Those who use a straight stitch only machine or a foot with a round needle sized opening will have to do the former.
I took a permanent marker and drew a red line right on the bed of my sewing machine. Crossing the red indicates danger! It beats all the gauges and feet I’ve seen!
Here’s a test, you don’t really need fancy tools either. Cut four two-inch squares very accurately. Make them into a four-patch. This should measure exactly 3.5 inches. If it doesn’t, adjust your seam by either putting a mark on your sewing machine with tape where you should be lining up your raw edge, or if your machine allows it, move your needle a smidge. Those who use a straight stitch only machine or a foot with a round needle sized opening will have to do the former.
I took a permanent marker and drew a red line right on the bed of my sewing machine. Crossing the red indicates danger! It beats all the gauges and feet I’ve seen!