Bamboo & Pinwheels

Inspired by all my crafty friends (like Brooke!) who make the most amazing quilts, I decided it was time to get out all of the fabric I’ve been collecting over the past few years and start making something with it. I found this pattern online and fell in love with it:

Doesn’t it look fun? The pattern is amazing because the way it is pieced and cut, you end up with blocks for two different quilts, one is Bamboo and the other is Pinwheels. Here is a link to a pattern you can buy. I myself was too impatient to wait for a pattern and started experimenting on my own to figure out the technique. If you work with a cutting mat and rotary cutter (and who doesn’t these days?) piecing it is a breeze.

Here’s another gorgeous sample from Betty at Shadywood Quilts.


Here is my quilt in progress:

strips folded and ready to sew together with sashing.

pressing the seams.

zipping right along.

This project has been a great counterpoint to my schoolwork. I worked on a big paper yesterday the entire time the kids were in school, and then after supper I was really ready to get out of my left brain and into my right hemisphere! I was able to work on the quilt right up until it was time for stories and putting the kids to bed, and that time working with my hands and watching something tangible and lovely come together gave me a good refueling. Today, I’m ready to get back to the paper; and working on the quilt later will be my “carrot on a stick.”