Quilt Block Tutorial - Pinwheeled Churn Dash - Learn Half Squared Triangles (HST)

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This post is long overdue!!  I forgot that I took pictures of the PinWheeled Churn Dash Block of the Month that I did while I was in Saudi this past Spring.  How the Dhahran Oasis Quilt Guild does their Blocks of the Month is everyone takes a fabric packet and signs up to make that month's block.  In the packet there is a sheet with cutting & piecing instructions.  The picture below shows the Flying Geese Block of the Month packets.

FROM THE CLASS WE TOOK TO MAKE THE PINWHEELED CHURN DASH:

THIS IS HOW THE BLOCK OF THE MONTH CLASS WAS SETUP ON THE DESIGN WALL

THIS WAS THE FINAL TRIMMED 12" BLOCK - VERY PRETTY

THIS DIAGRAM SHOWS HOW TO MAKE THE HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES (HST), I WILL SHOW YOU THAT BELOW ON MY MACHINE

MAKING A HALF SQUARE TRIANGLE, BUT I WILL SHOW MORE DETAILS BELOW

DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW TO MAKE THE PINWHEEL, I WILL SHOW THIS BELOW UP CLOSE

 HOW TO PIECE THE PINWHEEL AND WHAT THE BACK LOOKS LIKE

SEE THE TINY PINWHEEL IN THE BACK CENTER?  I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO DO THAT BELOW.

 PIECING THE STRIPS DIAGRAM

 WHAT THE PIECING LOOKS LIKE FOR THE STRIPS

WHAT THE PIECED SECTIONS LOOK LIKE BEFORE PUTTING THEM ALL TOGETHER

NOW, MY TUTORIAL PART

I am a visual person so I like very detailed tutorials that take me step by step, basicly holding my hand along the way.  I will try my best to be as clear as possible for those that are new to piecing & quilting.  If you have any questions or get stuck, please leave me a comment below and I will help you.

For this 12" block, we used:

(1) Orange strip in size 26"x2.5"

(1) Floral strip in size 26"x2.5"

(1) Orange rectangle in size 4"x16"

(1) Floral rectangle in size 4"x16"

MY PIECES THAT I TOOK OUT OF THE BAGGIE

UPCLOSE OF THE FABRICS WE USED

TO MAKE A HALF SQUARE TRIANGLE (HST), TAKE 1 SQUARE OF EACH FABRIC AND PUT THEM ON TOP OF EACH OTHER PRETTY SIDES TOUCHING.  LINE THEM UP AS EXACT AS POSSIBLE.  TAKE A PENCIL OR DISAPPEARING MARKER TO MARK A LINE FROM 1 CORNER TO THE OPPOSITE CORNER.  THIS IS ONLY 1 WAY OF MAKING HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES (HST) AND THIS IS MY PREFERRED METHOD.

I LIFTED UP THE TOP FABRIC TO SHOW YOU THE PRETTY SIDES ARE TOUCHING

ABOVE ALL OF MY 4" BLOCKS HAVE BEEN MARKED WITH A LINE FROM 1 CORNER TO THE OPPOSITE CORNER, READY FOR SEWING

I USE A 1/4" SEAM FOOT FOR ALL OF MY PIECING.  YOU CAN BUY THEM AT ANY QUILTING SHOPPE.  MAKE SURE YOU BUY ONE THAT IS COMPATIBLE WITH YOUR MACHINE.  LINE UP THE BLACK EDGER WITH THE LINE YOU MARKED ON THE FABRIC.  SEW FROM EDGE OF FABRIC TO EDGE OF FABRIC FOLLOWING THE MARKED LINE.

SEE THE WHITE STITCH TO THE RIGHT OF MY MARKED LINE?  NOW WE WILL REPEAT THAT ON THE OTHER SIDE.

NOW ALL OF MY BLOCKS HAVE BEEN SEWN ON BOTH SIDES OF MY MARKED LINES.

UPCLOSE OF MY STITCHED LINES

TO MAKE YOUR HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES (HST) YOU WILL TAKE YOUR ROTARY CUTTER & MAT THEN CUT ON THE MARKED LINE.  BE CAREFUL TO CUT AS EXACT AS POSSIBLE.

ABOVE ALL OF MY TRIANGLES HAVE BEEN CUT

ON YOUR IRONING BOARD OR IRONING SURFACE, I PUT THE ORANGE FABRIC ON THE BOTTOM WITH THE DARKER FABRIC ON THE TOP.  THIS MAKES IT EASIER TO FLIP OVER AND IRON TOWARDS THE DARKER FABRIC.  I SOMETIMES GET MIXED UP AND HAVE TO REDO THE IRONING.  NO BIG DEAL.  SIMPLY REDO IT.

I ALWAYS FLIP MY PIECES OVER AND IRON ON THE BACK AS WELL.

1 HALF SQUARE TRIANGLE (HST) IRONED AND ALMOST READY FOR PIECING.  7 MORE TO GO.

NOW, YOU WILL SEE LITTLE HANG OFFS OR WHATEVER THEY ARE CALLED AT THE TIPS WHERE YOU SEWED.

ALL OF MY HALF SQUARED TRIANGLES (HST) HAVE BEEN IRONED BUT NOT TRIMMED OF THE HANG OFFS.

OKAY, NOW IT'S TIME FOR PIECING THE STRIPS.  SIMPLY SEW THE 2 STRIPS TOGETHER.

AS WITH THE HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES (HST) IRON TOWARDS THE DARKER FLORAL FABRIC THEN TURN OVER AND IRON THE OTHER SIDE.

WE WERE GIVEN 2 STRIPS FOR EACH FABRIC.  YOU CAN WORK WITH THE SAME OR 1 LONG STRIP FOR EACH ONE.  IT'S UP TO YOU BUT THE SMALLER PIECES MADE IT BETTER TO SHOW WHAT I'M ABOUT TO DO.

TRIP YOUR PIECED STRIPS TO 1 3/4" FROM THE CENTER SEAM.  BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN TRIMMING TO GET THE LINE STRAIGHT.

ONLY A SMIDGET OF FABRIC WILL BE CUT OFF EACH SIDE.  FOR THOSE NEW TO QUILTING, THIS IS CALLED TRIMMING UP, SQUARING UP, SQUARING OFF.

ABOVE YOU CAN SEE THE EMPTY SPACE ON THE CUTTING MAT REFLECTING WHAT I TRIMMED OFF.

WE ARE GOING TO MAKE (4) 3.5" X 6.5" PIECES.  ABOVE ONLY SHOWS 2 PIECES.

THIS IS ALL MY SECTIONS PIECED TOGETHER INDIVIDUALLY & IRONED.  I NOTICED AFTER TAKING THE PICTURE THAT THE BOTTOM MIDDLE PIECE WITH THE STRIPS IS UPSIDE DOWN.  I DID CORRECT MYSELF IMMEDIATELY.  I WILL SHOW YOU THE CENTER PINWHEEL SOON. IT SHOULD BE SELF EXPLANATORY FROM THE PICTURE ABOVE.  YOU SEW THE TOP 2 HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES (HST) TOGETHER THE IRON PRESS TO ONE SIDE.  YOU THEN SEW THE BOTTOM 2 TOGETHER & IRON PRESS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.  THEN YOU SEW THE TOP & BOTTOM PIECES TOGETHER.

HERE ARE THE PIECES IN THE TOP SECTION.  FOR THOSE NEW TO QUILTING, PUT IN FRONT OF YOU 1 SECTION AT A TIME THAT WAY YOU DON'T GET CONFUSED OR GET OVERWHELEMED.

TAKE 1 OF THE HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES (HST) AND FLIP OVER ONTO THE MIDDLE SECTION.   I JUST HAPPENED TO START WITH THE LEFT BUT YOU CAN START WITH THE RIGHT.  MAKE SURE THE LEFT EDGE IS LINED UP FOR BOTH PIECES.  SEW A 1/4" SEAM.

ABOVE MY 1/4" SEAM IS SEWN AND OPENED UP BUT NOT IRONED YET.

NOW FLIP THE OTHER HALF SQUARE TRIANGLE (HST) ONTO THE MIDDLE SECTION & SEW A 1/4" SEAM.

THIS IS THE TOP SECTION READY FOR IRONING.

I ALWAYS PUT MY SEWN SECTION BACK IN PLACE.  NOW, ONTO THE MIDDLE SECTION.

FOR THIS SECTION WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THE PINWHEEL CENTER FIRST.

TAKE 1 OF THE TOP HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES (HST) AND FLIP IT OVER ONTO THE OTHER, PRETTY SIDES TOUCHING.  SEW A 1/4" SEAM MAKING SURE TO SEW THE CORRECT SIDE.  I HAVE SEWN THE WRONG SIDE A FEW TIMES BEFORE AND THAT IS WHEN THE SEAM RIPPER COMES IN HANDY.  AFTER A FEW MISTAKES YOU MAKE DARN SURE YOU SEW THE CORRECT SIDE.

NOW MY TOP SECTION IS FINISHED.

TIME TO SEW THE BOTTOM PIECES THE EXACT SAME WAY.

PINWHEEL ALMOST FINISHED.  FIRST WE NEED TO IRON.

FLIP YOUR PIECES OVER AND SEW THE MIDDLE SEAM IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS.  THIS STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO SKIP.

UPCLOSE OF SEAMS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

NOW OUR PINWHEEL PIECES ARE IRONED AND READY TO SEW TOGETHER.

FLIP THE TOP ONTO THE BOTTOM.

MAKE SURE THE MIDPOINT SEAMS ARE BUTTED UP NEXT TO EACH OTHER OR AS I SAY, "MAKE SURE THE SEAMS ARE KISSING".  1 SEAM FLAP WILL BE GOING TO THE LEFT AND THE OTHER TO THE RIGHT.

MY PINWHEEL IS FINISHED.  WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING FIRST BEFORE ADDING THE LEFT & RIGHT SECTIONS.

FOLD YOUR PINWHEEL IN HALF WITH THE VERY LAST SEAM YOU SEWED.  TAKE YOUR SEAM RIPPER AND REMOVE 2-3 STITCHES BETWEEN THE SEAMS YOU JUST SEWED.  THIS IS SO THAT THE BLOCK WILL LYE FLAT.  THEN TAKE THE TIP OF YOUR IRON AND THAT WILL HELP OPEN THE TINY CENTER PINWHEEL.  IRON THAT FLAT.

VOILA!  TINY PINWHEEL ON BACK!  THIS MAKES THE BLOCK LYE FLAT WITH NO BULKY KNOT IN THE MIDDLE.

NOW FLIP YOUR LEFT SECTION ONTO THE PINWHEEL.  SEW A 1/4" SEAM.

FLIP THE RIGHT SECTION OVER AND SEW THAT AS WELL.

MIDDLE SECTION FINISHED.

LET'S PUT THAT MIDDLE SECTION BACK INTO PLACE.

NOW THE BOTTOM SECTION WILL BE EXACTLY AS THE TOP SECTION.

FLIP LEFT ONTO CENTER THEN SEW.

SEAM SEWN & OPENED UP

DO THE SAME WITH THE RIGHT SIDE.

BOTTOM SECTION DONE.  BLOCK IS ALMOST FINISHED BUT YOU NEED TO IRON THE BACK SIDE PRESSING SEAMS TO ONE SIDE.

EVERYTHING IS READY TO GO BUT NEEDS TO BE IRONED FIRST.  I ALWAYS IRON AGAIN TO MAKE SURE.

IRONING FINISHED AND READY FOR SEWING AGAIN.

FLIP TOP ONTO MIDDLE SECTION, THEN SEW 1/4" SEAM.

TOP & MIDDLE, CHECK!

FLIP BOTTOM ONTO MIDDLE & SEW

THIS IS THE FINISHED BLOCK IRONED BUT NOT TRIMMED.  I LAYED IT LIKE THIS ON THE CUTTING MAT SO THAT YOU CAN SEE IT WILL BE 12" BLOCK WHEN TRIMMED & SQUARED UP.  I LOVE HOW THIS BLOCK LOOKS!


I HOPE YALL LIKED THIS TUTORIAL.  PLEASE LEAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW.  DON'T FORGET THAT MY BLOCK OF THE MONTH WITH A TWIST SERIES WILL BEGIN FEB 1ST!  CLICK IMAGE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS!

3 button sizes coming soon for yall to grab! 
(250x250, 200x200 & 150x150).