Pinwheel Stack & Whack

RenÃ© · 2007-03-24T05:29:58+00:00

A couple of years ago, I got several precut kits of Pinwheel Stack & Whacks. Great fabrics and great color combinations. I've been housebound and decided it would be a good time to get them put together. There's 100 blocks, total, not all the same, but averaging ten 9" blocks for several full size bed quilts, and using occasional plain blocks to fill it out. I started sewing them together and could tell right away that they were all "out of whack!" All these triangles and none of them fit like they should have. The first 10 will end up on a couple of doggie blankies, cause they won't care. :) The rest have needed to be squared up at nearly every step. I've finally gotten to the point where I can estimate what can be left until the final squaring, and where I need to square it up early in the block making process. My question is this -- are there any good ways to reduce that bulk in the center, where all 8 triangles come together in a point? I've tried pressing the seams all in one direction, and then pressing them all open. Nothing seems to really matter. There's still a huge knot in the center of the block. I've got them all done, and will never use that pattern again. It was easy to see very quickly that some of them were not cut correctly, setting everything off on a wonky angle at the very beginning. But I've figured out how to take care of most of that. It's that center point that's so bulky. I'd like to do some fancy fabric kaleidoscope quilts, but this has soured me a bit. I've got some terrific fabric that I know will work perfectly. But I don't want to cut it up and discover it ends up looking like a ruffled doily. :) Any hints, advice for me? (And I was hoping those precut kits would be so nice and handy.) René

Mar 24, 2007 23 Replies

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Roberta Zollner 19 years ago

What a terrific idea -3 or 4 at once! And with all the different fabrics, they won't look alike at all. Roberta in D

"René" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:pEIOh.15084$oV.3534@attbi_s21...

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Tony 19 years ago

hi ,i think i can help you! my site:

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Pat in Virginia 19 years ago

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Boca Jan 19 years ago

When I chain piece I don't use any ender or starter pieces except for the very first piece. I have a Janome and don't need to. Try changing your needle every 8 hours of sewing. Maybe your needle is blunt and is pushing the fabric instead of piercing the fabric.

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