Double Pinwheel, DONE

Hope you are having a great weekend! I finished up the double pinwheel quilt I blogged about here, and here and finally here I posted a picture of the flimsy.  In those posts I complained a bit about the process. . . but now that the quilt is done, I have to admit, it really wasn't that bad. Kinda like having a baby, never doing it again right after and then a few weeks/months down the road, you forget.  OK, probably not the best analogy ;) 

I decided to quilt this with a big spiral.  I have not really figured out how to keep those darn rows closer together!  I think part of it is that the quilts I have done this on are gifts, I want them to be soft and cuddly and when the rows start sneaking out further and further I decide that's OK... And maybe I don't really feel like ripping stitches. . . probably more that! Anyway, it did wander out as much as two inches but I think it still looks good.  And I quilted this in one day.  Not bad.  I did a double heart in the borders.  I was going to keep going with the spiral and then decided I wanted to add a little something FM on the quilt.  

I also used this binding method.   I have seen many quilts around blog land using this method and I thought this quilt would look super cool with the dark pink binding and the light pink flange.  I decided instead of quilting in the ditch I was going to do more of a top stitch.  I'm kinda into that look these days and to be honest - I'm just not that good at staying in the ditch.  This method results in a very cool look - but be forewarned - it takes more time than regular binding.  Not that that is a bad thing, but of you are working on a project that you want finished very quickly, you might not want to consider this method.  I think the result was well worth the extra time it takes to sew everything together.  

OK, I've rambled on long enough, here are the pictures! :) and a little more info on the quilt follows.

All washed and crinkly :)

LOVE the light pink flange on the binding!!!

See how that spiral just kept getting wider? . . .

Totally digging pieced backs! I NEVER thought I would say that!!! :)

I always put my 'label' on the binding - very subtle in this case but it is there!! :)

Quilt Size: 53" x 64"
Pattern: Pinwheels in the Park by Sew Mamma Sew Side note, I did use wider sashing on the vertical, I wanted the quilt to be wider and thought that was my best bet.
Fabric Front: I'm not going to be able to give specifics on this as most of it came from my stash... The prints are all Kaffe Fassett.  The dark pink solid is a Bella Solid by Moda but unfortunately when I bought it I did not look at the bolt to see the color name.  The light pink solid in the double pinwheel is also from my stash. . . I really wish I could remember where I even bought this from because it is cotton but very much looks like linen. . . . I could 'use' about five more yards of it in my stash!
Fabric Back:  The print is Kaffe Fassett, the large bright blue is Handspray by RJR, the pink is Wovens by Moda and the one lavender is Suede by P&B Textiles and honestly, I don't even have a guess as to what the other one is. . .  
Batting: Quilter's Dream Wool (I just can't stop using this stuff!!)

The lesson I learned in making this quilt, that hopefully stays with me the longest, is don't freak out completely when something is not cut right. . . . I had a little issue with cutting a couple of the squares too big for the light pink triangles.  Of course, I started sewing on that side of the design wall... and that resulted in my throwing a fit (not really but I did stick my tongue out at it several times) and not sewing anything with this quilt for a day or two.  I jumped to many conclusions immediately upon finding the oops - ALL of them were cut wrong (no, only a total of 8 triangles or two blocks), I'm going to have to recut everything (no, just two squares) and I should try creative sewing (OK, sometimes this is an option but I really think when dealing with this type of pattern - that's really not a good idea).

I also learned that my belief that because I soak (yes, soak) my fabric with starch and let it dry almost completely before ironing, I really am preshrinking my fabric. . . I had originally planned to use the pink fabric on the back as the sashing fabric for the front.  I starched the bejeezus out of it, let it mostly dry and ironed it - it shrunk FOUR inches!  I had measured it before starching it because I knew I was going to be just barely squeaking by in terms of having enough.  When I put it back down on my cutting table, I was shocked, and had a good reason to go shopping at the LQS :)  Ummm, OK scratch that - the fabric may shrink when it is soaked with starch BUT I just pulled the quilt out of the dryer - it now measures 53" x 64" . . . That's another FOUR inches!!! Seriously? I am shaking my head.

The other thing I kept thinking as I was sewing the blocks together was - I need to find a tutorial that goes through not how to make HSTs - but how to sew them together and keep those corners! I got lucky on some, not so lucky on others :) Is there an 'easy' way to do this?? If you know of a tutorial or have a trick you are willing to share - I am all eyes and ears!!  

Linking up with Richard and Tanya Quilts for LAFF, Show It Off Saturday at Sews She Can, SEWjo Saturday at My Go Go Life, Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Mondays, Patchwork times for Design Wall Mondays, Connie over at Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday and Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday. If you are here from there, welcome! And if you need a good dose of inspiration - go check out what others are doing :)

Going to be working on QOV blocks this weekend (link on top right sidebar).  And then on to quilt and bind the Log Cabin Triangle quilt! Yay :) I gotta get going, Friday is the beginning of the Triangle QAL at Sassy Quilter! The button is at the top of the right side bar, if you haven't already checked it out, hop on over and join the fun!

Until next time, keep on quilting!