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Make This: Prairie Pinwheel Baby Quilt Tutorial

Cami of our Creative Team is back with a stunning baby quilt tutorial!  Made with pinwheel and snowball blocks, this generously-sized baby quilt is accented by prairie points and a sweet checked border.  We also have put together quilt kits with all of the same fabrics for you to make your own! (Kits are sold out.) Finished size is 48″x56″.  Here is the full photo tutorial:

Prairie Pinwheel Baby Quilt

Supplies Needed:

1 1/4 yards focal print fabric (used for snowball blocks)

3/8 yard of 4 coordinating prints (used for pinwheel blocks)

1 Swiss Dot 10″ Stacker Pack or 8 10″ squares

5/8 yard border fabric (we used Gray Check)

5/8 yard solid white fabric

1/2 yard binding fabric

3 1/4 yards backing fabric

Cut List:

Pinwheel

4 coordinating prints- Cut into 5” strips, then cut into 5” squares.  You will end up with 8- 5” squares for each fabric for a total of 32.

8- 10” Squares of Swiss Dot- Cut into 5” squares for a total of 32- 5” squares. 002

Snowball

1 yard focal print fabric- Cut into 4- 8 ¾” strips, then cut those strips into 8 ¾” square for a total of 20- 8 ¾” squares.

5/8 yard White fabric for snowball corners for both snowball and pinwheel blocks- Cut into 8-2 ¾” strips- Cut strips into 2 ¾” squares for a total of 120- 2 ¾” squares. IMG_0357

Border and Prairie Points

5/8 yard border fabric- Cut into 4” strips for a total of 5 strips.

¼ yard of all 5 prints used in the pinwheels and snowballs- Cut into 3 ½” strips, then cut into 3 ½” squares for a total of about 70 3 ½” squares. Iron in half diagonally with right sides out, and once again iron in half diagonally. photo 5

Block Assembly:

Pinwheel Block

  • On the back of each Swiss Dot Square draw one diagonal line from corner to corner. 003
  • Pair 2 prints with 2 matching Swiss Dot Squares to make one Pinwheel. Take one pair of Swiss Dot and print with right sides together and sew ¼” on each side of the marked diagonal line. Chain sewing will make this step much faster. 004 006 009 010
  • After sewing all squares in this manner, cut squares in half on the marked line. 013
  • Press seams to the dark side. 014
  • Take 4 matching Swiss dot/print combo to sew into a complete Pinwheel block. Take care to match seams and have each Pinwheel look the same when sewn together. 016 017 018
  • Press seams. 019
  • Mark all of the 2 ¾” white squares with a diagonal line like we did for the pinwheel. IMG_0358
  • Match up 2 ¾” square block with each of the four corners of the Pinwheel blocks. Sew directly on the line this time. IMG_0361 IMG_0362
  • Once all squares are on all the blocks, cut ¼” from outside of the seam and discard the excess. IMG_0365 IMG_0366
  • Press seams toward the center of the Pinwheel. IMG_0370

Snowball Block

  • For each block, sew the 2 ¾” square to each main print 8 ¾” block in the same manner you did the pinwheel block. IMG_0359 IMG_0360
  • Cut ¼” from outside of the seam and discard the excess.
  • Press seams toward white corner. IMG_0369

Quilt Assembly:

  • Lay out quilt to ensure even color distribution. Sew blocks together alternating Pinwheel and Snowball Blocks. Take care to match seams. IMG_0373 IMG_0374
  • Press seams.  You will have one of each Pinwheel and Snowball blocks left over.
  • Lay out quilt and pin Prairie Points in a pleasing manner. I overlapped each point by ¼”. You may need to adjust to have the points meet the corners. Start with the top and bottom. You will definitely need to pin the Points to the quilt. Once the points are pinned, then pin the top and bottom borders on and sew. Be careful to make sure all corners of the points are sewn in the seam. photo 6
  • For the side borders, cut one of the 4” strips in half and sew one half to each of the 2 remaining border strips.photo 14 photo 15
  • Pin the Prairie Points and borders to the sides as before and sew.
  • Press seams toward the inside of the quilt.
  • Top stitch just on the inside edge of the quilt to keep the Prairie Points down. photo 17
  • Quilt and bind as desired.  The lovely machine quilting on mine was done by Felicia Graves.Prairie Pinwheel Baby Quilt

Cami

Isn’t it amazing?!  We do have a limited number of quilt kits available for this quilt. (Kits are sold out.)  Thank you so much to Cami for this wonderful tutorial.  Feel free to leave any comments or questions below.

 

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22 Comments

  1. Thank you very much for this tutorial. It’s a wonderful looking quilt and such a great size. I will keep it in mind – but I think I’ll make a bigger one to fit a single bed.

  2. I bought this kit, and I’m at the prairie points part, and the directions say I need 288 squares..I sure don’t have enough fabric left over for 288 prairie points..but I counted the prairie points on the quilt in the picture above and there are only about 66 points.. You might want to edit your tutorial LOL

    1. Thanks for letting us know! There is so much involved with these tutorials that sometimes we do miss a typo or two.

  3. Great pointer about top stitching the inside seam of the prairie points to keep the points down! I’ve used prairie points quite a bit in my baby quilts and am glad to have the tip on how to keep them down. Thanks!

  4. This is absolutely A. Dor. Able!!! Have been wanting to do prairie points, and this is the perfect one! Cannot wait to make it! Thanks for the clear and concise instructions!

  5. I don’t understand stitching the white squares to the pinwheels. Picture shows the white square pointing on the inside. Help!

  6. I can’t tell you how much I have been looking for a pattern like this. Simple, and just plain beautiful. Thank you for sharing this tutorial with us. I just adore prairie points. It finishes a quilt without too much effort. So sweet for my little granddaughter. She will love it and will have the quilt for ever.

  7. I’m not sure the size is correctly stated for the Snowball as follows:
    Snowball-1 yard focal print fabric- Cut into 4- 8 ¾” strips, then cut those strips into 8 ¾” square for a total of 20- 8 ¾” squares.
    Should this be 8-3/4″ strips cut into 2-3/4″ squares for a total of 20 ?????
    thanks, Elaine.

    1. Sorry, I didn’t read it right. I see it now. We’re cutting strips to width and then squares from the strips. Duh!
      Thanks for the tutorial!!

  8. I made this quilt with purples and yellows. I love the pattern it works very well for
    an adult lap quilt. Photo to follow. Directions were right on.

  9. you said that the finished quilt is 48×56 … i am assuming this is before the boarder is put on ? Is that correct ?

  10. When making the pinwheel block what size should each half square triangle be squared to. I calculated it at half of 8.75 plus l/2 inch. Is that correct. It means that each half square triangle would be 4 and 5/8 to make the block match the snowball block in size.

    1. Yes, 4 5/8″ is correct. You can square them all individually before sewing into the pinwheel. If your half-square triangles look nearly square without trimming, you could first sew them into the pinwheel block, and then square the whole block to 8 3/4″.

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