Sunday, February 7, 2021

Weekly Update: scrappy, trippy pinwheels

(c) Jen Kingwell
 

In 2019 I made 360 pinwheels for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. They've been in a box waiting for the right opportunity to become a quilt.  

That opportunity came when I read Jen Kingwell's book Quilt Lovely, I bought a copy after attending the virtual program she gave for NSQG last month,    The strong vertical columns on neutral really appealed to me. Note that hers has three different kinds of pinwheels. 


 
Each column of 6" pinwheels turned out to be about 80 x 18 inches.  I had enough neutral (subtle plaid) homespun for the setting triangles and three plain columns.  There's not much contrast between the homespun and the design wall but if you look closely you can see the difference.
*After* I had it sewn together it looked blah. What to do?  

The Magpies' current group project involves Scrappy Trips blocks.  Several 'Pies have followed up their project contributions with Scrappy Trips blocks of their own.  Bingo! I pulled out the 2" strip hamper and cut 15" strips. I turned to the stash and cut more 15" strips.  I cut, sewed, sliced, sewed, and eventually made 45 Scrappy Trips blocks.  (2" strips = 9" finished blocks.)  




Right:    81 x 80.  It still looks off-balance.  


The solution: 

I was able to get enough setting triangles out of the cut-off neutral columns to make a third pinwheel column.  With a horizontal orientation it's 80 x 90.





 I have a left over column of 8 Scrappy Trips blocks to piece into the back or use for something else.  And there are 310 pinwheels in the box hollering that it's their turn now.

Linking up with Oh Scrap    Monday Making  Design Wall Monday   So Scrappy

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 I read two good books this week.     

 

Recently we watched a PBS program about Agatha Christie's 1926 disappearance. This book is an imagined retelling of what might have happened. Chapters alternate with past--going from the time Agatha met Archibald Christie in 1912 -- and the "present" meaning December 1926 when the police arrive at Archie's door wanting to know if he knows where his wife (by then a best-selling author) is. The story has usually focused on Agatha's side. Here Archie is the "unreliable narrator," a literary device that Agatha used in several of her books.  
This is a good tale -- but I do encourage you to watch  the PBS show narrated by David Suchet who played Hercule Poirot.



David Heska Wanbli Weiden's debut novel has received critical acclaim. It's a thriller set on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.  Narrator/protagonist Virgil Wounded Horse is a thug-for-hire.  Got a grudge? Virgil will punch the guy out for a fee.  When his 14-year-old nephew and ward Nathan becomes a pawn for the local node of a drug cartel, Virgil is determined to get the dealers.  His girlfriend Maria, the daughter of a tribal council politician, enlists herself in the effort.  The tale is gritty, at times violent, and ultimately hopeful.  I hope that  Weiden will write more about Virgil and Maria. 


19 comments:

  1. Oh wow! This quilt is a show stopper - honestly!

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  2. What a fantastic quilt! The way you extended and developed your original plan is perfect.

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  3. That's going to be a beauty you have in the works there! Lots of pinwheels left to play with :)

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  4. OH perfect! Great arrangement for your pinwheels!!!

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  5. Nann, your scrappy trippy pinwheels looks amazing!!! I am so excited for you! What a brilliant solution. I'm intrigued by the Agatha Christie novel as well. Thanks for so much inspiration to start my Monday!

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  6. Brilliant layout combining two projects!

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  7. i do believe you have outdesigned jen kingwell! i saw that pattern and it spoke to me as well but now that i've seen yours, well it's sorta blah...you are a scrappy queen for sure!

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  8. The evolution of great design. You were exactly right -- the beige was so very blah. But, oh adding the trip around the world blocks made a difference but turning it sideways? Brilliant. You make me want to make some trip around the world blocks myself. Thanks for sharing the process you went through. It's always so interesting to me how folks come to the right design. Well done. I need to watch that PBS documentary. And, see if I can get the book too. Thanks for the suggestion. I suspect gritty and violent would not work for me so I'll stick with the Christie book.

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  9. What a fun setting for your pinwheels. It really makes a simple block seem special. Love how your design is evolving.

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  10. Clearly, it was a good idea to let the pinwheel quilt "stew" for a while. The result is a big improvement over your starting point. I have some pinwheels made for RSC which still need to be sewn together. They are on my UFO challenge lsit this year, so maybe I'll finally finish them.
    Pat

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  11. Wow! I love how you showed the original inspiration and the design progression of this fabulous quilt! Each version kept getting better and closer to the cheerful perfection that is your finished design! Simply gorgeous!!!

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  12. This design is fantastic!!!!! Congrats on solving the dilemma :-)

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  13. The pinwheels and Trip Around the World blocks look as if they are made for each other! Fantastic finish ! I find it interesting to read about the evolution of the design. Thanks for showing the process. Thanks too for the books and TV suggestions. I will watch the PBS show for sure. I read Winter Counts a couple of weeks ago and really liked it. Now I’m reading The Black Swan of Paris and enjoying it. Finding it hard to put down

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  14. Clever you. I love quilts that riff off something you glimpsed. Such fun. Great colors and great way to use your scraps.

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  15. Wow! I have Kingwell's book and have often thought of making that pinwheel quilt. Yours is so much more interesting and creative and wonderfully scrappy. Hooray and congrats!

    I watched that show about Agatha Christie a few years ago. Up until then I hadn't even known about her disappearance.

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  16. love how your pinwheels " holler out " at you!
    I use a lot of my little pinwheels for accents and borders, sometimes the larger ones even enlarge the backs for a nice surprise on the reverse of the quilt!
    Stay safe and sew on!

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  17. LOVE the design that you came up with for using all these Pinwheels, Nann!!

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