For the math whizzes out there....question??
 

I want to make two pinwheel blocks or two four-patch blocks to finish at the size of a block in my quilt panel which is 8 and 1/4" square. The panel block will not be cut or sewn so it will be 8 and 1/4" always. Any idea how large to cut my squares to match two pinwheels OR two 4 patches with the block in the panel??? If I knew how to draw a pic on here I would to explain myself better. I hope someone can help me out here. I have had this fabric for a month to make a baby quilt which I thought would be easy and I haven't made the first cut!! Scares me to death! It is expensive fabric which I know the new mom will love but I am so scared of messing it up. Thanks to all who want to plunge in here with some help!! I know there is a formula but I'm not sure of the measurement that you add. It has rained here for five days now and I really could have probably finished this thing as all I want to do is make a cute border to go on the panel. Thanks so much for all the info I glean from this board EVERY DAY! Have a good one all!

Hi there. This is the exact measurements you need. But they are a little interesting to cut the sizes.
You would need 2 7/16" squares (4 squares, 2 of each color) sew together to make a 4 3/8" four patch block.
Sew the blocks together you will have 4 3/8" x 8 1/4" block. If you sew 4 4 patch units together you will have a 8 1/4" block.
Or you could sew 2 1/2" blocks together and trim to 4 7/8".
Pinwheels are another story. :o) Place 2 different 2 13/16" squares right sides together. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner. Sew 1/4" on either side of this line. cut apart. Do this twice and you will have the 4 squares for a pinwheel. Sew together to make a 4 3/8" pinwheel. Or you could use 2 7/8" squares and again you will trim the finished pinwheel to 4 7/8". These are interesting measurements, but it should work out! Ann

[QUOTE=krafty14;6162811]Hi there. This is the exact measurements you need. But they are a little interesting to cut the sizes.
You would need 2 7/16" squares (4 squares, 2 of each color) sew together to make a 4 3/8" four patch block.
Sew the blocks together you will have 4 3/8" x 8 1/4" block. If you sew 4 4 patch units together you will have a 8 1/4" block.
Or you could sew 2 1/2" blocks together and trim to 4 7/8".
Pinwheels are another story. :o) Place 2 different 2 13/16" squares right sides together. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner. Sew 1/4" on either side of this line. cut apart. Do this twice and you will have the 4 squares for a pinwheel. Sew together to make a 4 3/8" pinwheel. Or you could use 2 7/8" squares and again you will trim the finished pinwheel to 4 7/8". These are interesting measurements, but it shoul

Wow! How do you know this?? That's amazing. I will do it up in muslin so I can be sure i'm understanding your directions correctly. Would it be simpler to make it 8 1/2"? not sure if that would matter or not. Does this use the rule about adding 7/8" or something like that? Thanks so much. I'm hoping others will have input also as there are so many great quilting brains on here that it would be fun to see if others use the same methods. Thank you!

Dear krafty14, I re-read your instructions which are great. But one thing, maybe I wasn't clear on. I want a 4 patch block that measures 8 1/4" finished. Or do I need an extra 1/2" for seams? Math is so confusing to me, especially quilting math!! I didn't mean a block of 4 4-patches! Does that make sense? just a four patch with four different colors that measures 8 1/4". Thanks again if I haven't confused you completely!

Yes, guess I misunderstood what you wanted. I thought you wanted two blocks together to measure 8 1/4".
To make an 8 1/4" four patch you would need 4 squares of fabric measuring 4 3/8" each.
You would need 4 squares measuring 4 3/4" each for a pinwheel.
You say your panel is 8 1/4". Are you going to sew it to the 4 patch/pinwheel? If you are not going to cut it or sew it, what are you going to do?

The panel has 9 blocks which measure 8 1/4 " but it has a border around them similar to sashing. I plan to add borders to the outside sashing with the 4 patches and pinwheels to accent them out of various coordinating fabrics. They will not be sewn directly to the panel blocks. I just thought it would look better to have all of the blocks about the same size. I am so good at messing myself up by thinking I can take a piece of fabric and use my imagination and have it all work out right!! yikes! why do I try these things??? anyhoo, thanks again! I will let you know how it works. gotta do dinner now~

If I am reading this correctly you are asking for the cutting measurements for both the HSTs in the Pinwheel and the squares in a Four Patch? If so - here it goes .... if not .... sorry

Each pinwheel is made from four HSTs. So each HST will finish up to be 4 1/8 square if the entire square is to finish up at 8 1/4.

Yes, for the HSTs in the Pinwheel , this is where that pesky 7/8" comes in to play. Your squares should be cut at 5" square. (I am of the school - better to be too big and trim - so I would probably cut them 5.25 then square up after construction).

If you are doing just a plain 4 Patch - the finished subsquares again would finish at 4 1/8" square. To that you would add 1/2" - so here your squares would be cut 4 5/8". Again I like to trim square, so I would probably cut mine at 4 3/4".

After sleeping on it overnight, which always helps, I think cutting larger and trimming down is the way to go. Thanks a bunch for the help. krafty 14 was great too! I apologize for not being able to explain it all better but I think this will work. I am not confident in making up my own pattern. I can follow instructions from a pattern (with pictures, haha!) but not great at doing the calculations myself. Also, only having fat quarters I am concerned about running out of fabric. Thank you for the help and have a great Sunday. God bless you all and God bless this board for being so helpful!

One nice thing about both the Four Patches and Pinwheels is that you can easily trim down to the size you want. Good luck - and OBTW - the math just takes practice.

thanks for the good wishes! i think I can do this. When I realized they could be cut down without messing them up it got a whole lot easier! Thanks again to all for the help.