Pinwheels - discouraged
 

I am not new to piecing or sewing. However, as many times as I practice HST to put into a pinwheel, I can never get them to meet exactly in the center. I have got the construction of HST down. (I oversize them and trim to desired size.) Everyone here is so helpful, I am turning to the QB for some advice or maybe a tutorial or directions.

I can only give moral support! I have done them before several years ago and had fun doing them, but I think it was just luck. So I am passing on good luck to you too!

Since you are making them oversize and trimming down, just be sure that your seams are centered in the corners of your HST's before you trim. Also be sure your seams are pressed so that they lock together when you get ready to sew them in pairs and also when the pairs are joined to make the pinwheels.

One other suggestion is to sew your first pair from the outer edge to the pinwheel center and butt the next pair up starting with the pinwheel center and sewing to the outer edge. Leave the two sets attached. When you line them up to sew the final seam, the thread will keep the center together as if they were pinned.

I hope this all makes sense! I'm sure your will get lots of other helpful hints as well.

Good luck!

When you trim them down, make sure that the seam is exactly in the corners of the patch, not just that the HST is the correct size. Also, make sure that the seams are all pressed the same way (i.e. all to the dark). When you match the first two hst, nest the seams to make sure that the first half of the unit is correct. If the seams from the 2 patches don't match up at this point, your pinwheel won't either. Press the seams from the 2 half units in opposite directions. when you pin the pinwheel together, use a pin straight up and down to match the points from the 2 half units. When you pin the units together to sew, make sure you aren't moving the fabric as you pin. Might be a good time to try a tiny drop of glue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O18wxk9BZk4 This video really helped me out when I made the pinwheels. Her method worked for me. Hugs! Debbie

I agree with laurlync. But there is a lot of bulk in that center and that might be where you are having problem. If you can't get the fabric to lay flat, it will be distorted. Eleanor Burns had a method for getting those centers to lay flat. No expert on the internet but I would go to her web page and search for pinwheels. She undoes a few stitches and the center does lay much flatter. Pinwheels are NOT my favorite block either !! :)

I have the same issue and I have decided that I do not like pinwheels...I am not in love with the looks of them so I am going to finish my table runner and be done with them.

Ditto what she said. She undoes those stitches and smushes til they just kind of fall into the perfect point.

Ditto to all of the above, and then: When I need to match up points I put a pin through the intersection of the point of each block to make sure they are in the same place. Then, holding the block together with this pin sticking through it, I pin the rest of the seam. This usually works for me.

I've also read a lot on this board about folks using Elmer's washable school glue to match up seams before sewing.

I'll tell you what has worked best for me: I was making HST out of 5" charm pack and I was going to make a lot of them. I knew that my finished size was going to be 4". I went to a glass shop and had them cut me a 4" square out of plexiglass. When I got it home, I took a Sharpie and drew a line diagonally corner to corner on the back. I then put on InvisiGrip to keep it from slipping and to keep from wearing the Sharpie line off. I placed the plexiglass template on each HST, lining up the drawn line to the seam line. I then trimmed the squares; sometimes I had to trim a little off each side, sometimes a little off one side only. When I put the squares together to make my blocks, the centers came out perfect. I have since gone back to the glass shop and had several different sizes made to trim up different size HST. My shop charged a couple of bucks for each. Just make sure you take a ruler or tape measure to measure the plexiglass templates before you leave the shop so you know they are the right size when you get home.