Whirling Pinwheel (and FREE pattern)

I am always inspired by vintage quilt patterns. Sometimes I don't even realize that what I think is one of my own ideas is actually from someone else's head! This vintage quilt was featured in one of our magazines (Big Block Quilts, 2002) and it must have stuck itself in the back of my mind because it reappeared 13 years later!

Whirling Pinwheels: 70" x 70"

Let's see the block as it appeared in the Kansas City Star in 1943. Wow - can you believe those templates? It certainly has my brain whirling!

Whirling Pinwheel block from 1943

I was sent a fabric collection from Windham several years ago and they challenged me to do something with it. It was called Broken Stripes.

Broken Stripes by Windham Fabrics

I cut out half circles (first putting fusible interfacing on the wrong side):

Rainbow blades

Then I put them into a semblance of that Whirling Pinwheel block, except I got rid of all those crazy templates. I machine appliquéd the blades and center circle down.

Whirling Pinwheel my way!

The blades were placed on a background square on which I had folds along vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines.

I turned this into a workshop and also created a larger pattern for Windham Fabrics which you can download for FREE at their site: Blazing Star

Here is my quilt (still not quilted!):

My Blazing Star quilt

And here's the beautiful quilt (free pattern) that you can make from this vintage Whirling Pinwheel pattern.

Blazing Star: 69" x 69"

This really is a fun block to make. And can you believe all those swirling blades?