Filling in the Blanks

This is the final layout of my scrappy red and white windmill quilt:

Windmill Quilt final layout
The pinwheel centers were the last to go in, as they needed to be balanced with each other as well as inside their respective blocks. And it was a balancing act. First the windmills needed to be positioned so that no like red prints (which read as solids) were in adjacent blocks and then the pinwheels needed to be positioned in the same way. My other self-imposed rule was that the red prints in each pinwheel had to be different from the other reds in the same block.

Since I was working with a limited number of reds, this turned out to be quite a challenge. I wound up with two neighboring blocks with the same red in the pinwheels (not sayin’ where) but I’m not worried about it because the quilt top still looks balanced over-all.

Speaking of pinwheels, those little blocks look pretty cute from the back:

back of pinwheel block

To flatten the center where eight seams intersect, I popped two seams open, creating a teeny tiny pinwheel which no one will ever see once the quilt top is sandwiched.

The pattern I am using is A MidWinter’s Night by Deb Eggers of the Cottage Rose. I made one small but significant change to her directions which is best explained by showing you a couple of photos. Here are the first two blocks I made, side by side:

dk and lt windmill block

See how the values are reversed in the two blocks so that the windmill is dark in the left block and light in the right? But notice that the dark and light values in the center pinwheels are in the very same position.

Doesn’t it stand to reason that the values in the pinwheel should be reversed as well? I removed the pinwheel in the left block above and replaced it with a pinwheel with reversed values. Now look at the two blocks:

windmill blocks lt and dark
Doesn’t that look better? I sure think so. I’m glad this occurred to me before I sewed 20 pinwheels together the same way.

I am hoping to get all of the blocks sewn together this weekend. I might even get the top completed. My efforts are somewhat hampered by this constant visitor to my sewing room:

Coco on ironing board
Coco likes to make herself at home on my ironing board. She’s always very interested in what I’m doing:

Coco helping me sew
See how she has placed her paw directly on the pieces I am trying to pin? With “help” like that, no wonder I sometimes feel my progress is too slow.

 

 

 

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11 Responses to Filling in the Blanks

  1. Reigh Hays says:

    This quilt reminds me of Christmas candy!

  2. Vickie says:

    This is looking really good. I have been sewing some HST together to make a quick baby quilt to have on hand. I decided to layout everything as pinwheels. I don’t know how I manage to do it but I end up getting one or two blocks out of sync with all the other blocks. So unsewing happens and I try to figure out what I “should” be doing to get the solids and the prints exactly where I want them. Do miss you!

  3. Diane says:

    Oh Nubs, I love this one almost more than life itself and I admit to understanding barely half of the technical challenges you write about. Never mind, the end result is just FANTASTIC!! Maybe this one should be called Coco’s Valentine. 🙂

  4. Virginia Hammon says:

    🙂 Love the name Coco’s Valentine. This is lovely. The big circle secondary design keeps the eye moving around!

  5. Nancy says:

    Beautiful, Coco found the perfect home. Coco is your quilting kitty for sure!

  6. Karen Johnson says:

    Beautiful red & white quilt! Funny how cats & quilting go together. In your last picture, I see your yellow/blue headed pins. I found that exact pin container at Goodwill with all the soap dishes! I realized it wasn’t a soap dish, & bought it. I love how you just wave it over spilled pins & voila!

  7. Judy Madden says:

    Love it!!!

  8. Colleen Coffman says:

    Coco’s Valentine gets my vote! It is a beautiful quilt. Can’t wait to see it up close :)!

  9. Charlie says:

    I am surely sure you are surely right in reversing the two pinwheels.

  10. Jeanne says:

    You’re right to reverse the pinwheels — an improvement.
    Coco looks pleased with herself. She certainly thinks she’s cute!

  11. Regina says:

    Love the pinwheels!

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