Make This: Prairie Pinwheel Baby Quilt Tutorial

Cami of our Creative Team is back with a stunning baby quilt tutorial!  Made with pinwheel and snowball blocks, this generously-sized baby quilt is accented by prairie points and a sweet checked border.  We also have put together quilt kits with all of the same fabrics for you to make your own! (Kits are sold out.) Finished size is 48″x56″.  Here is the full photo tutorial:

Supplies Needed:

1 1/4 yards focal print fabric (used for snowball blocks)

3/8 yard of 4 coordinating prints (used for pinwheel blocks)

1 Swiss Dot 10″ Stacker Pack or 8 10″ squares

5/8 yard border fabric (we used Gray Check)

5/8 yard solid white fabric

1/2 yard binding fabric

3 1/4 yards backing fabric

Cut List:

Pinwheel

4 coordinating prints- Cut into 5” strips, then cut into 5” squares.  You will end up with 8- 5” squares for each fabric for a total of 32.

8- 10” Squares of Swiss Dot- Cut into 5” squares for a total of 32- 5” squares. 

Snowball

1 yard focal print fabric- Cut into 4- 8 ¾” strips, then cut those strips into 8 ¾” square for a total of 20- 8 ¾” squares.

5/8 yard White fabric for snowball corners for both snowball and pinwheel blocks- Cut into 8-2 ¾” strips- Cut strips into 2 ¾” squares for a total of 120- 2 ¾” squares. 

Border and Prairie Points

5/8 yard border fabric- Cut into 4” strips for a total of 5 strips.

¼ yard of all 5 prints used in the pinwheels and snowballs- Cut into 3 ½” strips, then cut into 3 ½” squares for a total of about 70 3 ½” squares. Iron in half diagonally with right sides out, and once again iron in half diagonally. 

Block Assembly:

Pinwheel Block

• On the back of each Swiss Dot Square draw one diagonal line from corner to corner. 
• Pair 2 prints with 2 matching Swiss Dot Squares to make one Pinwheel. Take one pair of Swiss Dot and print with right sides together and sew ¼” on each side of the marked diagonal line. Chain sewing will make this step much faster.
• After sewing all squares in this manner, cut squares in half on the marked line. 
• Press seams to the dark side. 
• Take 4 matching Swiss dot/print combo to sew into a complete Pinwheel block. Take care to match seams and have each Pinwheel look the same when sewn together. 
• Press seams. 
• Mark all of the 2 ¾” white squares with a diagonal line like we did for the pinwheel. 
• Match up 2 ¾” square block with each of the four corners of the Pinwheel blocks. Sew directly on the line this time. 
• Once all squares are on all the blocks, cut ¼” from outside of the seam and discard the excess. 
• Press seams toward the center of the Pinwheel. 

Snowball Block

• For each block, sew the 2 ¾” square to each main print 8 ¾” block in the same manner you did the pinwheel block. 
• Cut ¼” from outside of the seam and discard the excess.
• Press seams toward white corner. 

Quilt Assembly:

• Lay out quilt to ensure even color distribution. Sew blocks together alternating Pinwheel and Snowball Blocks. Take care to match seams. 
• Press seams.  You will have one of each Pinwheel and Snowball blocks left over.

• Lay out quilt and pin Prairie Points in a pleasing manner. I overlapped each point by ¼”. You may need to adjust to have the points meet the corners. Start with the top and bottom. You will definitely need to pin the Points to the quilt. Once the points are pinned, then pin the top and bottom borders on and sew. Be careful to make sure all corners of the points are sewn in the seam. 
• For the side borders, cut one of the 4” strips in half and sew one half to each of the 2 remaining border strips.
• Pin the Prairie Points and borders to the sides as before and sew.
• Press seams toward the inside of the quilt.
• Top stitch just on the inside edge of the quilt to keep the Prairie Points down. 
• Quilt and bind as desired.  The lovely machine quilting on mine was done by Felicia Graves.

Cami

Isn’t it amazing?!  We do have a limited number of quilt kits available for this quilt. (Kits are sold out.)  Thank you so much to Cami for this wonderful tutorial.  Feel free to leave any comments or questions below.