mandyrose

is there a easy way to put pinwheels together I spend more time lining(matching) them then I do sewing them I never get them right on the first try I'm not talking about the seams I mean arranging the block to look like pinwheels I spend more time turning and arranging and still I sew them wrong

lfstamper

Jenny Doan has a tutorial on you tube for pinwheels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekYpJzHoW6E

PaperPrincess

Make one pinwheel at a time. It might take a bit longer than chain piecing, but if you're having issues, it's best to do them individually.
If you are doing a bunch the same, like all light/dark, all spinning the same way, I would take a piece of paper and actually draw your target pinwheel and color the dark blades. Put the paper on your work table and then lay the HSTs on top, matching your drawing.
Take the HSTs on the right and fold it back onto the left ones. Immediately put a pin on the side you want to sew. Sew & press. Take those two pieces back to your drawing. Arrange, then flip the top down onto the bottom. Pin and sew.

kaelynangelfoot

I just did a whole ton of these for a border and what I ended up doing was taking a completed block and putting it on the wall behind my sewing machine so that I had a visual reference. Then I laid the pieces out to match the reference block and stitched them one block at a time. Slow going, yes, but not as slow as constant seam ripper use.

hopetoquilt

I tape a diagram above my machine or put a sample half done next to my machine so I can just glance up to see arrangement.

alleyoop1

Try Jenny's method - I use it all the time and it's fool proof.
Fast and Easy Pinwheels!!! | Always Great, Always Free Quilting ...
Dec 21, 2011 ... Hi, it's Jenny, from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. We have another fun ... how we're going to make pinwheels fast and easy! You're just not ...
quiltingtutorials.com/all/fast-easy-pinwheels/

kristakz

For any block that has potential to flip when I sew it (swoon was a good example), I lay out all the pieces (usually 3-4 blocks stacked, but even if it's just one) on a large square ruler. Then I can carry that to my sewing machine, and pick the pieces up carefully two at a time. I usually fliip one over the other, but a thumb & finger around the edge I am going to sew, and transfer it the few inches to my machine that way.
Even then, I do occasionally manage to flip one, but it happens way less when I do this.

I also chain the segments of a block together. So for example if I am sewing a 9-patch, I lay it out beside my machine. Then I flip the middle row over the left row, one piece at a time. Sew from top to bottom of the pieces for the top row. Then, without cutting thread, sew top to bottom on the seam for the center row, and again for the bottom row. Now cut the thread and you have a chain of 3 segements - top, middle, bottom of you block in the right order and orientation (if you didn't flip anything). Now lay that back down beside the remaining 3 pieces to check. Now sew the final pieces to the right edge of this chain - again chaining the 3, and you'll have a whole 9-patch held together by strings. Press carefully, sew the rows together, and you have an un-flipped block.

zennia

Glad you asked this question because I had the same problem until I watched jenny explain it. Then it clicked in. Like the others I lay a sample by machine to follow.