Framed Pinwheels

The November Stash Artists pattern is available to members now, and I'm so happy to be able to introduce you to Framed Pinwheels! 

Stash Artists members can login to their account to get the Framed Pinwheels pattern. Not a member yet? The Stash Artists doors will be open for new members starting on November 14th. Join the waitlist now so you'll be notified by email when the doors open, to be sure you don't miss it.

I love a good scrappy quilt and I love pinwheel blocks, so this quilt makes me very happy. I also love designs with fun negative space, so the spaces between the frames make me happy, too. 

When I designed the pattern, I intended to only make a baby quilt for the cover, but then I couldn't resist pulling enough fabric to make the throw size. I did manage to stop myself there, instead of pulling enough for a queen size, though! I snapped this picture to help me remember which fabrics were paired together. How did quilters remember things like that before they had digital cameras for these quick pictures??? Since I started quilting in 1997, I was one of those quilters, lol, but I don't remember how I kept track of things then.

There was plenty of trimming to be done to get all the units the perfect size before assembling the blocks. Trimming isn't my favourite task, but it makes such a big difference to how the quilt comes together that it's worth the effort. I wrote a blog post a while back about how I trim HSTs without a specialty ruler.

I had an off-cut of Warm and Natural batting that was just barely wide enough for Framed Pinwheels. I had about an extra inch on the sides, at most, but I made it work! Even though it was throw size, I still count is as using up a batting scrap, since it was previously cut off from a new package after basting a different quilt.

When it came time to start the quilting, it was a dull, grey day and I wanted to work with something fun and colourful, so rather than choosing white or grey thread, I chose Aurifil 2515, Light Orchid. I love it! I find it fascinating how the thread colour shows so clearly up close, but when you take a step back and view the quilt as a whole, it's still the fabrics and the overall design that are more visible.

I love how it looks on the teal backing fabric, too.

I find I'm doing more and more all-over quilting, especially on bigger quilts, rather than spending the time on custom quilting. I still love custom quilting, but my brain is always racing ahead to the next quilt I want to play with, and I don't want to spend as much time on the quilting step. I'm more tempted to do fancy or dense quilting on mini quilts. As an example of my brain racing ahead, since I finished Framed Pinwheels last week, I've started two new quilts and designed another one, with plans to turn that one into a series...all while I'm running (and participating in) WIPS-B-GONE! Sheesh!

Of course, a quilt this scrappy needed a scrappy binding, too. Some of these pieces I pulled from my box of binding scraps, but I had to cut some, too. I've made quite a few scrappy bindings lately, so the box of leftovers doesn't have many bright, fun colours left in it. I guess that means I need to make a bunch of quilts with bright bindings to replenish the scraps!

I think Framed Pinwheels would be so fun in scrappy Christmas colours, or Halloween colours. I also can't wait to see it made up from Stash Artists' stashes. There's something so interesting about seeing a scrappy quilt from someone else's stash. They always have so many fabrics I don't have, or ones I wouldn't have thought to put together, and I love looking at them all.

Remember, you can join the Stash Artists waiting list now so you'll get an email letting you know as soon as the Stash Artists doors open for new members. New members will get access to the patterns that have already been featured in the membership, including Framed Pinwheels.