Argyle Pinwheel Pillow

Pinwheel Progress

After a crazy week last week - house guests both human and dog, the Madison Quilt Expo and a short work week - I've made some progress on the orphaned HST blocks that I shared last week! I went ahead with the pinwheels I was considering since it has been awhile since the last time I did pinwheels. They were small, only 3 inches when finished and squared. How cute are these mini pins?

I had kind of an asymmetrical float-y mod pinwheel idea but not any real plan. I decided to put the pinwheel blocks on point surrounded by bright pink on a neutral background - it was the first time I've done a project with blocks on point. The oat-y solid is Linen by Timeless Treasures and the bright pink is called Cherry. The solid colored blocks are also 3 inch square.

Once I had all the blocks sewn together and had cut off the pointy tips all the way around my block I had a rectangle 8x19 in size. For the top and bottom of the pillow top, I cut a 19 inch WOF and then cut two strips the first around 4.5 inches and second around 8.5 inches. I attached the smaller strip to the top and the larger strip to the bottom and squared it up so that I had a 19 inch square. Perfect size for a 20 inch pillow insert! I like to make my pillows slightly smaller than the insert so that they have a nice pouf to them. When I stood back and looked at the finished top I realized it really had an argyle feel and reminded me of some of my old sweaters when I was a kid. I do love argyle! And with fall coming, it's no wonder I had sweaters on my mind.

Once I got it all basted and ready for quilting, I realized there was a lot of negative space to work with! I was thinking of something simple and straight... I just couldn't see a curve-y pattern working out very well even though curve-y patterns are more fun to quilt. I've finished quilting the part above the pinwheel block. The left most side has two more quilting lines. I liked it that way so I went with it. I'm top stitching the little pinwheel blocks. All of the quilting is done in a very light pink thread.

Now how to finish the quilting on the bottom half of the pillow... I'm still deciding on that! This entire project has been kind of a 'wing it' affair... and has been a lot of fun. I have been winging it more often and I like it!

Low Volume Swap

On a less bright - but happy - note, have you heard about the Tone It Down Low Volume Charm Swap over at Patch the Giraffe and From Bolt to Beauty blogs!?  If not, check it out and get ready for all kinds of low volume eye candy!

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