Pinwheel Tutorial

The idea for this tutorial came about because a quilt that I took in for machine quilting had pinwheels, and they were very bulky in the middle.  I did a quickie demo for my quilt guild, hoping the guilty party was there (she was), and threw in a few other tips on pressing as well.  I know there are other methods which you may prefer, but this is how I like to make pinwheel blocks, or any block with eight points meeting in the center.

This is for a 6" pinwheel block.

Finished pinwheel block.

I prefer to oversize my half square triangles and square them up for accuracy.  Start with two 4" pieces, a dark and light.  Layer them right sides together, and draw a diagonal line on the light one.

Stitch 1/4" from both sides of the drawn line.  Cut on the drawn line and  open up the resulting half square triangle blocks.

Press seams OPEN and square up the blocks to 3 1/2".

Take all four half square triangle blocks and lay them out in a pinwheel formation.  It doesn't really matter which way they spin, but if you are using several in a quilt, try to keep them all spinning in the same direction.

Sew together in pairs.  Press seams open.

Lay the two halves with centers pointing to the middle.  They should look like this, with all seams pressed open.

Sewing the two halves together can be a little tricky to get the points to match in the middle.  To help with accuracy, line up the two centers and put a pin directly through the points where you wish to have them meet.  Don't try to tip this pin and secure the block there.  The fabric will shift if you do that.  Instead, with the pin perpendicular to the fabric, make sure the edges of the blocks line up, and pin the halves together right next to the first pin, on both sides of the seam.  Now you can take out the first pin and sew the seam, being sure to sew just a scant bit inside the point, so that it isn't eaten up when you turn and press it.  Again, press the seam OPEN to reduce bulk.  The finished block will look like this from the wrong side.

What is your favorite method for making pinwheels?