Pinwheel Variation Quilt Block Tutorial

Today let’s look at this variation of the Pinwheel quilt block. While there is a basic Pinwheel block in the center, there’s a lot more going on! Made entirely of Half Square Triangles, this Pinwheel block is easy too. At the end I also show a few ways to lay out Half Square Triangles for other blocks. Let’s get sewing!

Fabric Requirements for an 8″ Finished Pinwheel Quilt Block:

Light/White: 8 – 3″ squares
Medium/Hexie Print: 6 – 3″ squares
Dark/Aqua: 2 – 3″ squares

Sewing Directions:

Half Square Triangle Units:

Step 1:

Using all of the fabric 3″ squares, sew together 16 Half Square Triangle units as shown in the picture below. You can find my tutorial for making Half Square Triangles at https://quiltembroiderypdf.com/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Putting It All Together:

Step 2:

Lay out all the Step 1 Half Square Triangles as shown below.

Step 3:

Sew the Half Square Triangles together into four rows as shown in the picture below. I did repress four of the Half Square Triangles so that the seam allowance went toward the Light/White fabric. I did that so that the seams would nest nicely.

Step 4:

Press the seam allowances in Rows 1 and 3 in one direction, and Rows 2 and 4 in the opposite direction. You can see how I pressed mine in the picture below.

Step 5:

Now you just sew the four rows together and you’re done! That was quick and easy!

Step 6:

All that’s left is the pressing. Here you can see that I pressed the top and bottom seam allowances toward the outside of the block, and the center seam I used the tweak/twirl/furl method of pressing. However, you can press however you like for this Pinwheel Variation quilt block.

Layout Ideas:

Here’s the basic 4 x 4 layout. This makes a lovely secondary design!

This example is the same layout as above but with sashing and cornerstones added.

This is an alternating design where every other block is a chain block.

This alternating layout uses an “X” block for the alternating block. I like the bold look of this one. However, if I were to make this quilt, I would probably do an on-point layout with a braced pinwheel and sashing and cornerstones to get the same look.

This is an on-point layout with coordinating sashing and cornerstones and plain setting triangles.

And this is an alternating on-point layout with a chain block for the alternate block that extends into the setting triangles.

Other Ways to Lay Out Half Square Triangles:

Here are a few layouts using the same 16 Half Square Triangles (HST).

In this example I’ve simply switched the four corner HSTs with the center ones.

In this Sawtooth layout, I’ve put the four Dark/Teal HSTs in the center surrounded by the rest.

If you put this layout on point, you kind of have four little fishies with the Dark/Teal HSTs being the tail of the fish.