Give It A Whirl Blog Hop Starts Today

It is time to whirl, twirl, and spin with the "Give It A Whirl" blog hop!

What was the challenge?

Somewhere in or on your project you must include a "whirl".

This can be a pinwheel, Dresden, or anything that looks like it's spinning.

Maybe a merry-go-round or Ferris wheel in the fabric?

I've always wanted to make a 3D pinwheel quilt, so this was finally the chance to do that.

Geta's Quilting Studio has a great tutorial. Geta is an amazing quilter so

check out some of her other designs and patterns.

You can find her how-to make a 3D pinwheel HERE.

The fabric is "Xanadu" by Ann Lauer for Benartex that I bought not too long ago.

I love the colors and movement in this fabric!

The centers of pinwheels can be pretty thick, but 3D ones are even more so.

I brought out my hammer, but not just any hammer. It is called "The Wacker."

It's made specifically to smash those big lumps a little flatter without damaging the fabric.

It really works!

(Yes, I know there is a snip, clip, and make them flatter version, but I can't ever figure it out.)

"The Wacker" says to steam the seam before wacking, but wouldn't you know my iron

wouldn't steam without yucky brown stuff coming out. This wasn't a manufacturer issue.

It was a "uh-oh" moment when I accidently grabbed the Best Press instead of water

to fill the iron reservoir. Don't ever do that! It's not pretty what it does to the iron.

My new Oliso iron arrived quickly, thank goodness. So pretty!

No, I did not purposely buy that color to match the fabric, but it does, doesn't it.

My old workhorse Nolting does the job for quilting my projects.

Nothing fancy with my stitching, but I love the money I've saved doing it myself.

Simple scribbles around the pinwheels worked just fine for me and kept the

pinwheels dimensional. I love how they look!

I flew to Ohio to spend time with grandkids in February.

Monkey Girl turned two while I was there...where does the time go!

She is officially one of the "Monkeys" because there is nothing she won't climb on.

Busy, busy, busy, and happy totally describes her. The Monkey Boys totally love that girl!

Check out more whirling and twirling projects!

MARCH 18 - TODAY!

Just Let Me Quilt

Quilted Snail

Pattern Princess

Days Filled With Joy

Quilted Delights

A Quiltery

Bumbleberry Stitches

MARCH 19

Selina Quilts

Inflorescence

Words & Stitches

Quilting Between The Rails

Sew Many Yarns

Vroomans Quilts

MARCH 20

Quilting Gail

Just Sew Quilter

Karrin’s Crazy World

Scrapdash

Time 4 Stitchn

MARCH 21

MooseStashQuilting

Ms P Designs USA

Songbird Designs

Beaquilter

High Road Quilter

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Check out the "Give It A Whirl" Pinterest page HERE!

Thank you for stopping by!

Blog Hop Sign-ups For "Give It A Whirl"

The January "White Rabbit" blog hop was a wonderful success and, as always, I hated to see it end. 

BUT...there's a new one I'll be hosting that is open for sign-ups. Do you want to play along?

If you don't have a blog, you can play along with your Instagram or Facebook account.

THE CHALLENGE:

Somewhere in or on your project you must include a "whirl".

This can be a pinwheel, Dresden, or anything that looks like it's spinning.

Maybe a merry-go-round or Ferris wheel in the fabric?

How to make a 5" finished pinwheel:

For each pinwheel, place one 5” x 5” light square and one 5” x 5” dark square right sides together. Sew around all edges pivoting at corners. Cut sewn block diagonally from corners in both directions.

Open each cut piece; press seams towards the dark side of fabric. 

You’ll have four half square triangles (HSTs.) 

Sew HSTs together in two rows as shown below; press seams open:

With right sides together, sew two rows together to create a pinwheel; press seams open. 

Trim if needed to 5½” x 5½” square.

Another fun and new "whirl" pattern can be found for free from Sew Yeah Quilting.

Zach, one of the owners, made a great video of how to make "Tango Twirl."

You can find the video HERE and link to pattern HERE.

What is a blog hop? 

It's like a "show and tell" online or like joining a quilt guild without leaving home. 

Joan from Moosestash Quilting and I post a challenge on our blogs once a month.

Those who want to join in send us an email with their blog, Instagram, or Facebook information. 

After we get that info, we assign a date for them to post their project. 

We give everyone plenty of time to sew something, usually two months. 

We inspire each other with projects, tutorials, or patterns. Anyone can follow along! 

Send me an email if you want to join!

Joan's hosting "It Moose Be Love" in February...fun!

You can email her to see if she has any openings left.