Sunday, January 30, 2011

Lil' Twister Tutorial

Hello Everyone,

As promised, I wanted to show you how to use the Lil' Twister Template to make the tessellating pinwheels. I hope you enjoy and will give this a try.


First start with your selection of fabrics. I chose silk dupioni. If you use silks, I highly recommend that you back them with a very lightweight fusible interfacing. It helps to prevent fraying and any distortion by stabilizing the fabric.


Then you will cut your fabric into 5" squares (perfect for the pre-cut charm packs) and arrange them in a pleasing manner. I arranged them in a 6 X 4 layout. You can choose less or more if you like, but the size of your finished project will either be smaller or larger.


Then sew all the blocks together in rows and then join the rows.


Now you will add a 3" inch border to all 4 sides. It looks pretty like this, but will look even prettier when complete.


Now you will take your Lil' Twister template tool by CS Designs, (it can be found here in my shop) and align the black lines on the template on the seam lines as shown above.

You should start in the top left corner of your bordered blocks. You will have some of the border and some of the block in the first square. Cut around the template for your first block. Then move to the next seam to the right and so on until you get to the end, then move to the next row.


As you go from seam to seam it is important to keep your blocks in order to make each pinwheel block, as shown above.


Once you are done, you will have something that looks like this above. They now need to be sewn together by rows and then join the rows together.


Your original piece will look like Swiss Cheese (see above). Now all those little squares that you see, cut them into 1.75" squares for the outside border. You will need more from your scraps, so definitely cut more 1.75" squares.


Now that you have joined the blocks, your piece will look like the above, no border. You can stop here or you can now get creative.


I chose to add another 3.5 inch border of black.


Then to the black border I added the 1.75" squares and all the extras to form the outer border. You can really get creative here, maybe a wonky border, flying geese, longer piano keys, the sky is the limit.

Finished size 24 X 30

This is what your final piece will look like if you do what I did. If you do something else, I would love to see your version.

The Lil' Twister is so much fun! There is also a bigger template for use with the 10" Layer cake pre-cuts as well. Currently, I only stock the smaller version. Click here for yours!

I hope you have fun with this, please send me your photos.

Don't forget to enter the fabric GIVEAWAY on this post!!

Oh, and by the way, ALL Westminster Fabrics are marked down to $7.15 per yard through 2/4/11. Find them by clicking here.

Until Next Time...


Share/Bookmark

49 comments:

Becky (My Fabric Obsession) said...

That looks fun! How big was your completed piece?

Barb said...

I just love this little gadget....I have one...it is so fun....even saved the scraps inbetween...yours is wonderful with those fun colors.

Abby and Stephanie said...

Those silks are so rich and luxurious. Thank you for the gret tutorial. I'm a very visual learner.

Linda at Roscoe's Ma said...

I love how this piece looks! Thanks for telling us how to make it!

Unknown said...

Oh this is wonderful...I have not seen this before and what a wonderful way to have all different pinwheels..thanks so much for the tutorial. It will take me a little bit but I will get one of those rulers. Appreciate you.

Lauren The Artist said...

That looks great!

Glenna @ Hollyhock Quilts said...

This is just so neat, Jackie! Very fun! Thanks for sharing...

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Gorgeous Jackie! How about a silk dupioni charm pack in your store or better yet - a kit? I would love to make this!

Carol G said...

This is just the coolest idea. Seems like double work but WOW, what an outstanding outcome!
quiltfever.wordpress.com

deborah said...

Amazing and wonderful tutorial! Love the sheen of the silk!

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

thank you for the tutorial..can't wait to try it...there are so many projects for me to start...s'pose I'll ever get there??? lol

jofridsquilt said...

That looks like pure fun to me. Hugs Jofrid

Gene Black said...

This really looks like fun.

Jodi said...

I tried to order the Lil Twister but apparently they're out of stock. pls advise, Jackie. I love your quilt!

pratima said...

Thank you Jackie for this fun and fabulous tutorial! These little blocks are so cute and will be great for a scrap quilt.

Ann Marie @ 16 Muddy Feet said...

Loved the tutorial.

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing! I'll definetly have to try this!

Sara said...

How awesome is that!! Thanks for taking the time to put it all together for your readers.

9patchnurse said...

It looks like you are out of stock already, bummer! Can you let us know when there are more. I knew I should have ordered it last week when you first showed it. Shame on me.

Lucky Duck Dreams said...

I love the possibilities with this technique! That it uses my favorite 5' charm squares is the best!

Loves to Quilt said...

What a beautiful little quilt! I think that will go on my "to do" list!

Sherri said...

Great tutorial...I, too, am interested in knowing how big your quilt top is!

Bailey said...

Love it. May have to get that little tool!!

Annette said...

Oh that is so pretty! I love the solid colors. I think I want to try this.

Chelley said...

I have the tool and some fabric, but I haven't tried it yet!

Linda Carlson said...

Wonderful tutorial, Jackie!! And the little quilt is fabulous!!
Linda Carlson

Dandelion Quilts said...

Thanks for the tutorial.

Cathi said...

What a great tutorial and such a pretty quilt! Love the richness of the colours!

Anina said...

So cute! Love the fabrics.

Cathy @ CabbageQuilts said...

So great to see how this little tool works, great pics Jackie. What a gorgeous twisty quilt you ended up with. xo

Carol said...

Jackie, you're the best! I bought the Li'l Twister ruler but haven't used it yet. I'm so glad you posted a little tutorial, now I'm ready to give it a try.

wishes, true and kind said...

Thank you for the great tutorial! And those silk dupioni fabrics are to die for!

Rumi said...

Oh goodness! What a wonderful idea! I've seen quilts like this but didn't realize it could be made in such a clever way. Thanks!

Fleurette said...

Thanks for a wonderful tutorial, I love the quilt and fabrics, just gorgeous!

Hi! My name is erica. Would you be my friend? said...

I love that border, and that you used your extras for it!

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

Very fun!!

Nanette Merrill said...

I just purchased this tool. Good to know how to use it. Layout isn't great fun though but now I know. Thanks.

RG said...

Wow Jackie, that looks great and so easy!
Thanks for the tour.. your top look fabulous too :-)

Peg said...

Awsome project. LOVE the neat way you put this together and the fabric choice was superb. Thank you so kindly for sharing it :)

harleywife57/ Mickey White said...

you make this seem so easy to do ; it is beautiful !! thank you for sharing ; I'm bookmarking this for future use !

Anonymous said...

Your tutorial is the BEST of all that I have seen. Your photos are great and there are enough of them.

THANK YOU!

Chris

cv said...

This looks serious eye candy!!bose

Template cv

Brenda said...

Thank you! Thank you!!! I should have googled before I started cutting. It's okay, haven't gotten far. I can recover. I bought mine months ago and totally forgot how she said use it. This was so helpful!! Thank you again!!1

Ann Sehlmeier said...

Thank you for such a clear description of how the use the Lil' Twister. Your little quilt is stunning.

www.somewhereinstitches.blogspot.com said...

I love the twister quilt.I have the mini haven't used it yet but this inspired me to try now!the colors are great of course black always makes brights stand out
thanks Debbie kelly
http://somewhereinstitches.blogspot.com

Ellie Q said...

I'm looking to try this for my son's bed quilt, but wanted to make it look like there are fewer twisters and that they're floating. (In other words, have more of the background fabric involved...not sure if that makes sense...I can picture it in my head!) Have you seen any like this? Trying to figure out how to lay it out is hurting my head a bit...

Primitive Friends said...

I so want to make one of these little quilts & I have this little twister ruler. My main question and what has been stopping me from trying it out, is - do you have to be really careful when cutting around the ruler, to not go any further than the corners of the ruler?

Anonymous said...

The first border you added, was it 3.5" ?

Unknown said...

Yes, the inner black border is 3.5" as outlined as in the tutorial above.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...