Sunday, May 2, 2010

Template-free, Trim-free Whirligig Blocks

This tutorial is the result of my quest to find a way to make whirligig blocks without using a template or having to trim the block. There are a lot of great tutorials out there, but they do include templates or trimming, and I'm afraid I don't have much patience for either of those, unless they are absolutely necessary. My first clue came from this tutorial using charm squares. No trimming and no template! Unfortunately these blocks are way bigger than I wanted, since I was going to make a doll quilt. I took the principle and shrunk it to get a 5 inch finished block that is trim-free (hooray) and template-free (yippeee). Enjoy!
Trim-free, Template-free Whirligig Block Tutorial


The little doll quilt I made used 12 of these blocks with three small borders. The finished quilt is 19 x 24. It is a birthday gift for a special little girl, but it's twin is for sale in my shop!
I think my free motion is slowly improving.

5 comments:

SheilaC said...

Thanks for the great tutorial! I can't wait to try it out

SheilaC

Katelyn R. said...

Very pretty, I love these quilts, and the colors are perfect for it.

Trisha said...

I wish I would have seen this before I bought a template. I might just use your method instead anyways. :) Very cute quilt!

Patchwork Architect said...

Free motion is looking great!

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous idea. I too like the pattern but was not interested in having to use a template. This I can do! Thanks!