A Change Of Plans

I was planing on finishing up my Blessings From the Hollow Quilt last week, but I made this very tiny quilt instead.  For Christmas my mother-in-law gave me the Primitive Pinwheel pattern from Primitive Gatherings.  My laundry basket full of scraps called out to me to get started......and finished!  

I've never used any of the Lil' Twister tools before and this 11x13 inch quilt was just too cute to resist making during the holiday break.  Christmas Day I sorted scraps and came up with a few possibilities, so there will be more of these on my cutting table in the near future.  The squares for this version are just 3 1/2 inches before they are sewn together with borders. My boys were really interested in how this idea worked.  

 Using the plexiglass square tool to cut out the pieces for the pinwheel, left this interesting scrap on my cutting board in one piece.  

I even got to dig my small, unopened rotary cutter out from the bottom of my sewing box to use for this project! It had never been used before, so when I read that a small rotary cutter was necessary, I was thrilled to have a chance to use it!  Do you use a small rotary cutter a lot?  Maybe I should be using it for other things. Just wondering.       

And a single fold binding was new to me too!  I had always wondered about it, but I just never had the need to make one until now!  After doing a search on the internet, I figured out that it wasn't too different than the double fold binding that I normally make. I just needed to put the binding strip on the quilt without folding it first, then make a small fold as I attached it to the backing.  Not difficult at all!  I was amazed at how many new-to-me techniques and tools I used on such a small quilt!

The quarter in the top right corner of the quilt gives you a better idea of its small size.  Just a warning though, if you decide to give this pattern a try it's a lot like potato chips!  It's difficult to stop at one!

Happy New Year!