Sister's Choice Quilts

My interests are quilting, reading, cooking, family, decorating, and matters of style. I post regular quilting tutorials and book reviews of current fiction.

Rhubarb Whirl Blocks Done

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I am happy to share that my Rhubarb Whirl center blocks are done.  I did make the quilt larger than the pattern instructions, and mine will be around 72 inches square once I get the border on.  I made 64 pinwheel blocks for my version.  It seemed a more useful size for my needs.  Blocks finish at 8 inches.

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This is one block.  You can see that by arranging them as shown, you get a cool secondary pattern.

Some of you who commented yesterday, and own the book with the pattern, mention that you hesitated making the quilt due to the poor cutting directions and fabric requirements.  I am happy to share with you what I did.  Keep in mind I made my quilt quite a bit larger than the one in the book, which was 56" by 72", so my suggestions are for the larger size I chose to make.  If you make the smaller version, obviously you will use less fabric than I did because you will be making fewer blocks.

As I mentioned yesterday I found that I got two blocks out of two fat eighths cuts, one light and one dark.   If you wanted your quilt slightly less scrappy than mine, you could absolutely use fat quarters and get four blocks out of each pairing.  I made 64 blocks, and  used a couple of Primitive Gatherings fat eighths bundles, plus other fat quarters and scraps from my stash.  I probably had 32 different lights and 32 different darks, but you could definitely do this with 16 light fatquarters plus 16 dark fatquarters and cut double the strips I did out of each.  Keep in mind that for the border you are going to need some 4 1/2 x 8 1/2" dark rectangles, so you will want some extra fabric for those.  

For my blocks, using fat eighths, I placed a dark fabric and a light fabric right sides together and cut one strip 4 7/8" and one strip 2 7/8".  I sub cut the doubled 4 7/8" strip into two 4 7/8" squares, and got about three 2 7/8" squares out of that strip as well.  The 2 7/8" strip I cut into seven 2 7/8" squares, reserving two sets of squares for the border.  I drew a diagonal line through each square set and sewed a quarter inch from each side of the drawn line.  You will end up with two 4 1/2" half square triangles and eight 2 1/2" half square triangles for each block.  Each fat eighth pairing yields two matching 8 1/2" blocks.  Plus two extras for the border.

If this is jibberish to you, let me know and I will take more photos and show you step by step.

A word regarding fabric selection:  don't hesitate using backgrounds of very different values.  Some tans, some creams, some ivory–it makes things really come to life.  I think this quilt would look totally flat if you used just one background fabric.

Anyway, woo hoo, my blocks are done and now I will connect my rows, using my new million dollar numbered pins, and then move on to the borders!

63 responses to “Rhubarb Whirl Blocks Done”

  4. This quilt is so beautiful! Hmm, I seem to recall a quilting friend who didn’t like pinwheel blocks! I’m glad you’ve changed your mine – love these!

  5. This quilt is so beautiful! Hmm, I seem to recall a quilting friend who didn’t like pinwheel blocks! I’m glad you’ve changed your mine – love these!

  6. This quilt is so beautiful! Hmm, I seem to recall a quilting friend who didn’t like pinwheel blocks! I’m glad you’ve changed your mine – love these!

  7. Ever the speed piecer, aren’t you, sweet wizardess?! Love the blocks, the instructions (thanks), and the variety of fabrics. This is already a glorious quilt. Think you’ll have it together by tomorrow? Hope your sewing chair has a seat belt. 😉
    Yesterday I had a think about block size and decided on 8″ so am right there with you.
    Hug!

  8. Ever the speed piecer, aren’t you, sweet wizardess?! Love the blocks, the instructions (thanks), and the variety of fabrics. This is already a glorious quilt. Think you’ll have it together by tomorrow? Hope your sewing chair has a seat belt. 😉
    Yesterday I had a think about block size and decided on 8″ so am right there with you.
    Hug!

  9. Ever the speed piecer, aren’t you, sweet wizardess?! Love the blocks, the instructions (thanks), and the variety of fabrics. This is already a glorious quilt. Think you’ll have it together by tomorrow? Hope your sewing chair has a seat belt. 😉
    Yesterday I had a think about block size and decided on 8″ so am right there with you.
    Hug!

  10. Very pretty quilt.
    I appreciate your comments in the previous post regarding the book. No, you are not wrong to give a rant. If we were at quilt guild together, you would say this; so why not tell those of us who follow your blog. Books and fabrics are so expensive these days; I appreciate input before I make a splurge any more.

  11. Very pretty quilt.
    I appreciate your comments in the previous post regarding the book. No, you are not wrong to give a rant. If we were at quilt guild together, you would say this; so why not tell those of us who follow your blog. Books and fabrics are so expensive these days; I appreciate input before I make a splurge any more.

  12. Very pretty quilt.
    I appreciate your comments in the previous post regarding the book. No, you are not wrong to give a rant. If we were at quilt guild together, you would say this; so why not tell those of us who follow your blog. Books and fabrics are so expensive these days; I appreciate input before I make a splurge any more.

  13. Your quilt looks really good so far can’t wiat to see it with borders! And thanks for doing the math;-)

  14. Your quilt looks really good so far can’t wiat to see it with borders! And thanks for doing the math;-)

  15. Your quilt looks really good so far can’t wiat to see it with borders! And thanks for doing the math;-)

  22. Wow! What an awesome quilt this will be! It looks fantastic! Thanks for the details on cutting and fabric selection options. Very helpful!

  23. Wow! What an awesome quilt this will be! It looks fantastic! Thanks for the details on cutting and fabric selection options. Very helpful!

  24. Wow! What an awesome quilt this will be! It looks fantastic! Thanks for the details on cutting and fabric selection options. Very helpful!

  40. Just love how your quilt turned out! Beautiful colors and great scrappiness :). How do you get your pinwheels so perfect? I have the hardest time with mine and am not sure why.

  41. Just love how your quilt turned out! Beautiful colors and great scrappiness :). How do you get your pinwheels so perfect? I have the hardest time with mine and am not sure why.

  42. Just love how your quilt turned out! Beautiful colors and great scrappiness :). How do you get your pinwheels so perfect? I have the hardest time with mine and am not sure why.

  43. I ordered the book immediately. Thanks, Marilyn, for the information on “pricing deal.” Love how this works and thanks so much for the math. We might be asking for more help but I have printed to keep with the book.

  44. I ordered the book immediately. Thanks, Marilyn, for the information on “pricing deal.” Love how this works and thanks so much for the math. We might be asking for more help but I have printed to keep with the book.

  45. I ordered the book immediately. Thanks, Marilyn, for the information on “pricing deal.” Love how this works and thanks so much for the math. We might be asking for more help but I have printed to keep with the book.

  46. Your top is so pretty! You must be especially satisfied with this one after all the re-calculating involved! Have fun using those numbered pins!

  47. Your top is so pretty! You must be especially satisfied with this one after all the re-calculating involved! Have fun using those numbered pins!

  48. Your top is so pretty! You must be especially satisfied with this one after all the re-calculating involved! Have fun using those numbered pins!