Pinwheel blocks made easy with the Sew Easy Pinwheel Magic template

Welcome to the start of a fun-filled week! We’re going to start the week with pinwheels and finish it with Triangles. To find out how we get from pinwheels to triangles, I encourage you follow my posts this week.

Without further ado, let’s get to those pinwheels!

There are at least two ways to do a pinwheel block: the traditional way and the easy Paul way. In other words, I found a template that makes Pinwheel block quick and painless to do. Today, I’ll be using the SEW EASY Pinwheel Magic 6½” template.

For this project, we’re going to use two fabrics of different colors.

From one of the two fabrics, cut five 9″ squares and from the other, cut four 9″ squares.

From either fabric cut 4 strips, 2 that are 5″ x 26″ and 2 that are 5″ x 35″. It doesn’t matter which fabric you use as either will create a unique look.

Sew cut squares of fabric together to make a nine patch block.

As you’re sewing the blocks together, I strongly recommend that you press the seams open as you go. Why? There will be less bulk on one side of the seam or the other. It’ll help the ruler to lay flat on the fabric with little to no rocking that could result were your seams pressed to one side.

As you can see from the photo above, I chose to use the darker fabric for the border. The reason for my choice is that I liked the colors in the darker fabric more than those in the lighter one. As simple as that: personal preference.

As you look at the template, you’ll notice that there are lines on it marked A, B and C. Using any one of those lines will give you a slightly different look. Today I’ll be using the line marked: A.

To use this ruler, simply place the center of the ruler where the fabrics intersect as shown below.

Use either a KOMFORT KUT Rotary Cutter – 28mm or a KOMFORT KUT Rotary Cutter – 18mm rotary cutter to cut your fabric.

When cutting using the template, you need to be careful to barely go beyond the template. Using either of the rotary cutters above will allow you to stop cutting closer to the edge of the template.

When cutting the fabric using the template you may cut from left to right or right to left, but whichever way you choose to cut, the direction must be consistent throughout the cutting process.

As you’re cutting each piece, place them aside on a flat surface and turn each piece 45° counter-clockwise.

As the pieces are cut lay them out in the order they are cut. You should have 4 rows with 4 blocks per row.

When the pieces are cut and laid out sew the blocks and rows together.

As you can see, the SEW EASY Pinwheel Magic 6½“ template is easy and fun to use. For any fabric you may have left, you may want to consider using the SEW EASY Pinwheel Magic 4½” template.

The only thing left to do now is quilt the project! I kept it simple and quilted the pinwheels only but you can add more quilting to yours. Echo quilting on the purple portion would create cool triangles.

Come back tomorrow when I show you how to a new way to make a Drunkard Path quilt block using the TrueCut 360º Circle Cutter.