Whirlabout I made my first Whirlabout quilt block in November 1997 and simply forgot all about it. When I was looking through my quilts after our recent move, I saw the photo of the wall hanging (at end of the pattern) and thought it would make a great BOM. For a 12 inch finished Whirlabout quilt block you will need:     Six 3 7/8 inch red squares     Four 3 7/8 inch blue squares     Six 3 7/8 inch background squares More sizes are listed below.             You can probably tell that you will be making diagonal half squares, which is right. They really aren't that hard! To make your job a little easier, draw a diagonal line through all of your background squares on the wrong side. (This will be a cutting line when you are finished.) Place a background and red 3 7/8 inch square right sides together. If you have a true 1/4 inch foot on your machine, you can sew on either side of this drawn line. If not, you will have to draw a second line on either side, exactly 1/4 inch from the first line. They will be your sewing lines. After you have sewn on your sewing line, 1/4 inch on either side of your corner to corner to line, you will cut this square in half on your cutting line. Trim off the corners (or dog ears) You will now have two diagonal half-squares, which should measure exactly 3 1/2 inches. You use the same process to make all of the diagonal squares. You need 8 red and background, four blue and background, and four red and blue diagonal half squares. For ease of construction, put your block together one row at a time. Press each row in the opposite direction and then the seam allowances will go together nicely. Your finished block should measure 12 1/2 inches. Here are the cuts needed to make different size Whirlabout blocks:     Cutting your squares 2 3/8 for the triangle squares will give you a finished block of 6 inches.     Cutting your squares 2 5/8 for the triangle squares will give you a finished block of 7 inches.     Cutting your squares 2 7/8 for the triangle squares will give you a finished block of 8 inches.     Cutting your squares 3 1/8 for the triangle squares will give you a finished block of 9 inches.     Cutting your squares 3 3/8 for the triangle squares will give you a finished block of 10 inches.     Cutting your squares 3 7/8 for the triangle squares will give you a finished block of 12 inches. These are finished sizes, after the block is sewn into a quilt. I made this in 1997, so can't tell you what size it was, and I sold it to a friend a long time ago. Besides, you can duplicate it easily, just make it whatever size you want and make the borders the sizes you like. Then it will be your original, not a copy of mine. Have fun with it! And here are two blocks made by friends, thanks ladies!     Whirlabout © Delaware Quilts October 2022 The content on these pages, including text and images are the sole property of the Delaware Quilts and may not be used or reproduced in any manner without consent. All Rights Reserved. Posted October 30, 2022 |Home| Quilts| Blocks| Email|