Plume Whirlygig Quilt Top

Here is a link to a picture of other whirlygig quilts which inspired me to try out this pattern.

Using templates purchased from Pleasant Home and her tutorial I made this whirlygig quilt top.  I picked out my fabrics from 2 Plume charm packs and some hot pink Kona cotton. I chose charm squares that would coordinate with the background color, reserving other charm squares in different palettes for other projects.

Each whirlygig block requires 2 charm squares cut in half using the #5 template and 4 pieces of the hot pink fabric cut with the #6 template. The cutting of the fabric using the template was just as easy as using a ruler and rotary cutter to make cuts.

Putting these blocks together was pretty fiddly. I had to constantly refer to the photos in the tutorial to make sure I was laying out and sewing the pieces correctly. Once each block was done I was supposed to iron and square them up, but I chose not to do that step. 

I laid out the 20 blocks in a 4x5 array and chain pieced them together. Each block is roughly 8 inches square.  Mostly I used random placement, making sure that no two adjacent blocks were the same.  This could finish up into a good sized baby quilt or I may add to it to make it a throw for an adult.  Have not decided yet how this will end up. 

Love the vibrant colors and love how the pattern came out so well. Using the templates gave me blocks that were very easy to sew by matching up the seams. I used to not give a flying fig about seams matching, but now I like it better when they do.

Two things I learned while making this quilt top-- I love working with acrylic templates like these. Might have to look into getting others in the future. Also, I need to stop sewing before I am so tired of sewing that I do not care if my seam allowance is even.  I get in a hurry to be done and get careless. I need to give myself permission to not finish in one marathon sewing session and then I will spare myself careless mistakes that I need to fix later.

Gale