Floating Squares (with Pinwheels)

Don't measure, just cut ... and then cut again.

That's how I mis-remembered something Melissa Averinos posted on Facebook. What she actually posted was:

Measure TWICE rarely
Cut ONCE as many times as you feel like.

Nonetheless, it was the push I needed to move forward with an idea that involved cutting with scissors, without measuring.

It started like this.

The book is The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, A Guide to Creating, Quilting and Living Courageously.  It has sat on my bookshelf for almost a year, waiting, for me to find an opportunity to play.

The link is an Amazon affiliate link, so if you follow it and buy the book, I may benefit in a (very) small way.

When I put together those tiny 1 1/2-inch pinwheels from the bonus triangles squares I blogged about on Monday, I asked one of those dangerous What If? questions. What if I used the floating squares score in Sherri Lynn Wood's book as a setting for those tiny pinwheel blocks?


I pulled pink, purple and black and white fabrics from my scraps for my fabrics and cut my squares, with scissors without measuring. I treated the pinwheels as one of my sets of fabric squares.

Then I sewed them into "chunks" (without pressing!) until all the squares had been used.

The light fabrics that had been used in my pinwheel blocks was used as filler.

My intention was to make a small doll-sized quilt. But honestly, this was so much fun and I couldn't help but think how much more fun it would be to use this technique to make a big quilt.  I ended up with eight chunks.  I roughly trimmed them (with the scissors--still no measuring!) and plugged in the iron and pressed them.

I put them on the design wall and moved them around a bit to get a rough idea how I thought I'd put them together ... then just kept sewing until they were all attached to one another.

  


The result felt a little too narrow, so I cut a few more squares and made it a little wider.

This little quilt came together so quickly and easily, I kept going ... and layered it and quilted it with a spiral.

The finished quilt is 15 inches wide and 22 1/2 inches tall. I stitched down the binding while re-watching the Downton Abbey finale.  I already miss that show ...

I thought this little exercise would be great way to try a new process with a small commitment and I am satisfied with the result. I like the inclusion of the pinwheels and the idea of using an improv technique as a setting for traditional blocks.

Making this small quilt (from a limited number of squares), made me want more.  Although I often work improvisationally, putting away the rotary cutter was surprisingly freeing.

Often for me, little projects like this one are a way to get back to quilting when I fall into a rut.

Thanks to Sherri Lynn Wood for the great ideas in her book and to Melissa Averinos for the Facebook push.

I'm joining the lists for Scraptastic Tuesday, WOW (WIPs on Wednesday), Mid-week Makers and Can I get a Whoop Whoop? Fabric Frenzy Friday.