Fall Pinwheel New Quilt and EQ8 Tutorial

It has been a hectic week.  It has been a privilege to welcome a new group of EQ enthusiasts into Tech Know Quilters.  It was super fun to meet up with some of them at a private help session on Thursday. 

For those that were part of the Fall Migration webinars, your bonus is still a work in progress.  It has been taking a little longer than expected.  But I hope to get it out to you shortly.

In MN, the weather has finally started to feel like fall.  I have my jacket on (huddled over my computer) as I write this post.  I am still resisting turning on the heat.  But may need to break down this weekend.

I always get a bit excited when working with fall colors in my quilts.  So I am super excited to share my latest quilt creation.

Fall Pinwheel EQ8 Tutorail

I've always loved quilts comprised of two alternating blocks.  To get started, I found a block in BlockBase+.   If you would like to learn more, here is a post I did on Block Base+ a year ago.  

​The block is in Category 08:  Four Patch and the Subcategory 13 Like Dutchman's Puzzle.   They are square blocks divided into four parts by horizontal and vertical seams.  Each quarter of the block is repeated in some rotation in the other four corners.

Pinwheel Block from BlockBase+

Brackman ID:  1341
Published Name:  Pinwheel

From Old Chelsea Station Needlecraft Service

OCS Brooks

Old Chelsea Station is a mail-order company begun in 1933 that continues to advertise in periodicals.  Names used were Alice Brooks, Laura Wheeler , and Carol Curtis.  Mail orders were sent to Needlecraft Service at the Old Chelsea Station Post office in New York, which is why collectors call this the Old Chelsea Station Needlecraft Company.

If you don't own BlockBase+, you can draft this block in EasyDraw.  I suggest setting the block width and height at 8" x 8".  Set your snaps horizontal and vertical at 4 x 4.  The only snapping option needed is Snap to Grid.  I know you can do this.

For fabrics, I went back to the Flourish by QT Fabrics collection.  This was the one used in the Fall Migration project.  Both the color and the leaves in the fabric are really speaking to me.  This was one of the free Fabric of the Month download from Electric Quilt -- and the fabric is still findable in quilt stores.

Flourish Fabric Link on Do You EQ.com

In the video, I share how to start with your initial block (in my case the Pinwheel block) and create a coordinating block using the same grid structure and incorporating some of the elements of the first block.

Recolored Pinwheel block from BlockBase+

Alternate Block Designed using EQ8

Section of Pinwheel block used for Border Design

I also took a section of the Pinwheel block, and with some modifications, used it for a border block.  I love how much the simple block added to the design.

Border Block

Preliminary Fall Pinwheel Quilt

Check out how the background fabric creates a lattice design around the on point square.  I suspect if you didn't know the design process, it would be hard to know exactly what was block A and block B.

Then it was necessary to decide if I should do anything special with the large on point squares.  For those of you who love the actual quilting process, it is a great place to showcase some awesome quilt design.

I elected to add a touch of applique.  In the EQ8 library, I found a leaf under Motifs>Leaves.

I used wreathmaker to turn the leaf into a group of four  leaves and incorporated it in my alternate block. 

White Oak Motif from the EQ8 Library

Alternate Block with Leaf Applique

Check out the entire process in my video tutorial.

Here is the final quilt from the video.

Fall Pinwheel Design by Kari Schell using BlockBase+ and Electric Quilt 8

I would love to see your Fall Pinwheel quilt.  What modifications will you make to personalize the design?  Although I used 12" blocks in the quilt, it would also work well at 4", 6", 8" or 12".  It would also be easily adaptable for a bed quilt.

​Feel free to post pictures in the Learning EQ Facebook group post.

Fall Pinwheel EQ8 Facebook Post

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Happy quilting.

​Kari

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