Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 12 Blog Tour

Hello!  Welcome to my little segment of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 12 Blog Tour.  I'm so glad you're here, visiting my blog home.  If I could, I'd offer you a warm cup of cocoa and a cookie.  

This is my block for the issue, Pinwheel Flowers.  It appears on page 37 of the magazine, Block #1160.  At the end of my post I'll give you a chance to win your very own copy of Volume 12.

Let's talk a bit about backgrounds and using directional fabrics today.  For the Pinwheel Flowers block, I used a cloud print fabric.  As I cut out the pieces for the background, I made sure all my clouds were "floating" in the same direction.  You can see here that they don't have to fit together exactly at the seams to get a good sky effect.

I played with the block's background in this version, using a "sunrise/sunset" style fabric.  All these pieces were cut from one fat quarter. I laid the pieces out on a design wall as I cut them to keep them in order.  It only takes a little bit of planning to use directional fabrics effectively, and they can add fun and fabulous dimension to your blocks.

This is the completed sunrise/sunset version of the Pinwheel Flowers block.

You can easily change the mood of this block by simply using different background fabrics.  Pinwheel Flowers seem to glow at night with this dramatic dark blue version.

Pinwheel Flowers on a sunny day can be sewn by using a light yellow fabric for the background.  What a happy feeling the yellow background creates.

In this version I made the flowers three different colors.  Notice how I kept the light, medium, and dark values the same in each flower.  This is a great way to use a variety of colors and still have a balanced look.

What can you do with the Pinwheel Flowers block?  You can sew a few together and grow a garden of flowers - or a whole field of flowers.

I sewed a strip of four Pinwheel Flowers blocks together, and combined them with a few more strips of fabric, and pieced pinwheel strips to make this happy wall hanging.  It's hanging in my studio today, right over my quilting machine.

If you haven't already seen it, here's the cover of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 12.  Pinwheel Flowers actually made the cover, along with so many other fabulous blocks - awesome!  Thank you, Quiltmaker.

To win your very own copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, leave a comment below.  Let's make it interesting, please comment about your favorite traditional quilt block.  Be sure I have a way to contact you, should you be the lucky one.  

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Be sure to visit the other designers on the tour all week - you can return to the list at Quiltmaker's blog here:  Quilty Pleasures.

Have a lovely day,

Jennifer Schifano Thomas