Rainbow Pinwheels - finished

First finish of the New Year but I made this little top in the autumn as a teaching sample (blogged here).

I had layered it up in December in the (vain, foolish, completely unrealistic? - add the adjective of your choice) hope of finishing it off before Christmas as it is so small.  However this was not to be.

Having decided to start 2016 by going through my heaps of WIPs and UFOs, reminding myself that I probably should not buy any more fabric till 2020, I then spent a ridiculous amount of time this week trying to find the various things I needed to complete the top.

This included locating the binding fabric which had been tidied away for the holidays... Sure enough, I only found it when I had given up in disgust and started looking for something else: does that ever happen to you?

I was so grumpy that I don't feel it was really the best start to a new year but at least I am back on track now.  I am pleased with the quilting which avoids the area of greatest bulk at the centre of the pinwheel blocks as well as all the pitfalls of quilting in the ditch.  I just marked the lines with a Hera marker and used my old Bernina and walking foot. The quilting lines are a smidge over 2" apart.

So here are the vital statistics.  Quilt measures 25" x 34 1/2".
I made the quilt from a Charm pack of Best.Day.Ever. by April Rosenthal for Moda.  Backing by V and Co, binding from Wren and Friends, I think.  I'm not usually an orange person but this cheerful rainbow seemed to want it.

The idea for the rainbow layout came from a quilt I saw somewhere on Pinterest a while ago - sorry, not sure where now.  The primary colours of the charm pack suggested this arrangement, though I had to use a couple of neutral pinwheels where I ran out of a particular colour for a couple of the rows.

I used 35 of the forty two 5" squares in the Charm pack (I didn't use the very light prints).
I paired each print square with a 5" square of Kona Snow cut from yardage (allow 1 metre and you will have enough for narrow plain borders).

My 35 paired print/plain squares yielded 70 x 3" (finished size) pinwheel blocks, two of each colour/design, and they are set 7 x 10 with 2" borders.

I hope to post a mini-tutorial in due course with a few tips to help you make the sweetest, neatest little blocks which will go together like a dream and all your points will be perfect.  There's a goal/resolution for the New Year!

Linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts: thanks for the spur to get a finish out there promptly.  Let's hope it is the first of many for us all....