Cotton 20-inch Christmas Snowman Pinwheel Table Topper – Snowmen and Chistmas Trees with Mottled Green Half Square Triangles

Description

20-inch Christmas Snowman pinwheel quilt block table topper with four Christmas Tree and Snowman patterned ten-inch squares with attached mottled green four half-square triangles to create a pinwheel design.

Includes the following to complete your pinwheel block into a table topper:

• four ten-inch Christmas tree and snowman cotton squares
• four half-square folded cotton triangles in mottled green pattern attached to corners of the Christmas tree Snowman cotton squares,
• 21 inch batting attached to 21 inch cotton backing fabric,
• Eighteen pack of tactile 1/4″ sticky back seam guides

Instructions on Kit Use: You will need safety pins, straight pins and or plastic clips (not included with kit) to connect the squares before stitching. You will also need hand sewing needle, thread (green or neutral), small scissors, and a small iron would be helpful. On top of each of the ten-inch cotton squares is an attached, half square triangle that covers half of the underlying ten-inch square. The half square triangle is attached with a safety pin near the top point of the half square triangle and plastic T-clips which are attached to all three corners of the half-square triangle. The plastic T-clips are like those found attaching price tags to clothing except the plastic T-clip is shorter. The front side of the fabric (or right side) is the side where the safety pins are attached. Please do not remove clips or safety pins until instructed.

1) We will be pinning together the cotton squares into 2 rows of 2 to form a pinwheel pattern.  The following instructions assume that your rows are laid out horizontally (lengthwise) across the table with square 1 on the left and square 2 to the right of square 1.

Row 1, Square 1 will have the folded half square triangle in the upper right corner.

Row 1, Square 2 will have the folded half square triangle in the lower right corner.

Row 2, Square 1 will have the folded half square triangle in the upper left corner.

Row 2, Square 2 will have the folded half square triangle in the lower left corner.

 

2) To create the pinwheel, you will first pin or clip the squares into two rows. Follow instructions listed below using any of the four 10-inch squares in each step (since all the squares and half square triangles are identical):

• Place Row 1, Square 1 right side up on the table in front of you with its half square triangle safety pinned in the upper right corner.
• Place Row 1, Square 2 right side up on the table in front of you, just to the right of Row 1, Square 1, with its half square triangle safety pinned in the lower right corner.
• Holding the right edge of Row 1, Square 2, flip it over on top of Row 1, Square 1 (like flipping a page of a book backwards) so that the right sides are facing each other. Safety pin or clip the right-side edges of these squares together with a pin or clip on the two corners and in the center of the right-side.

3) Now we will stitch the pinned intersection of Row 1, Square 1 to Row 1, Square 2 with a running stitch using the sticky back felt strip as a tactile seam allowance guide.

• Take one of the sticky back felt strips and remove about an inch of the smooth paper from the back of the felt to reveal a sticky underside. Place the sticky side of the felt strip at one corner of the pinned squares then remove the rest of the paper backing as you press the strip along the edge of the pinned squares. Using threaded needle, perform the running stitch just under the felt strip from corner to corner of the intersecting squares. This will provide about a ¼ inch seam allowance.
• Unfold the squares so that Row 1, Square 1 is on the left and Row 1, Square 2 is to the right of it – right sides up. Place a single straight pin on the bottom left corner of Row 1 Square 1 to indicate that this is Row 1. When completed this step, set Row 1 aside to work on Row 2.
• Place Row 2, Square 1 right side up on the table in front of you with its half square triangle safety pinned in the upper left corner.
• Place Row 2, Square 2 right side up on the table in front of you, just to the right of Row 2, Square 1, with its half square triangle safety pinned in the lower left corner.
• Holding the right edge of Row 2, Square 2, flip it over on top of Row 2, Square 1 (like flipping a page of a book backwards) so that the right sides are facing each other. Safety pin or clip the right-side edges of these squares together with a pin or clip on the two corners and in the center of the right-side.

4) Now we will stitch the pinned intersection of Row 2, Square 1 to Row 2, Square 2 with a running stitch using the sticky back felt strip as a tactile seam allowance guide.

• Take one of the sticky back felt strips and remove about an inch of the smooth paper from the back of the felt to reveal a sticky underside. Place the sticky side of the felt strip at one corner of the pinned squares then remove the rest of the paper backing as you press the strip along the edge of the pinned squares. Using threaded needle, perform the running stitch just under the felt strip from corner to corner of the intersecting squares. This will provide about a ¼ inch seam allowance.
• Unfold the squares so that Row 2, Square 1 is on the left and Row 2, Square 2 is to the right of it – right sides up. Place two straight pins on the bottom left corner of Row 2 Square 1 to indicate that this is Row 2.

5) Now you are ready to pin or clip the two rows together:

• Place Row 1 face up horizontally (lengthwise) on the table, with the one pin in lower left-hand corner. Make sure that the half square triangle on Square 1 of Row 1 is in the upper right corner, and the half square triangle on Square 2 of Row 1 is in the lower right corner.
• Next, place Row 2 horizontally (lengthwise) on the table directly below Row, with the two pins in the lower left-hand corner. Make sure that the half square triangle on Square 1 of Row 2 is in the upper left corner, and the half square triangle on Square 2 of Row 2 is in the lower left corner.
• Holding the top left corner of Row 1 Square 1 and top right corner of Row 1 Square 2, flip this row down on top of Row 2 so that the right sides are together.
• Use safety pins and or plastic clips to attach the horizontal intersection (on the top edge of the two rows) from one end to the other to prepare for stitching.

6) Next you will stitch row 1 and row 2 together along the pinned intersection with a running stitch, using the sticky back felt strip as a tactile sewing guide. 

• Place the sticky back felt strip along the top edge of the pinned intersection of Row 1 Square 1 and Row 2 Square 1 from corner to corner. Perform the running stitch, just underneath the sticky back felt strip. This will result in a ¼ inch seam allowance. Remove safety pins or clips as you come to them. Move the sticky back felt strip along the top edge of the pinned intersection of Row 1 Square 2, and Row 2 Square 2. Repeat the running stitch just underneath the sticky back felt strip to complete the stitching of Row 1 to Row 2. Again, remove safety pins or clips as you come to them.
• Flip up Row 1 so that it is right side up above Row 2 on the table.
• You can now remove the pins in the lower left-hand corners of Row 1 and Row 2. This completes the stitching together of your four squares into a pinwheel block pattern.
• Secure the three corners of each of the half square triangles to the underlying squares with a small tack (stitch) in each of the three corners. This will prevent the half square triangles from shifting in next steps.

7) Next, you will pin the batting and backing right sides together with the pinwheel quilt top and stitch around perimeters right side out.

• The quilt batting and backing are pinned together with a safety pin in the center of the right side. The right side is the smooth cotton fabric side, and the wrong side is the soft batting side. The quilt batting and backing are a little larger than the pinwheel quilt top.
• Place the quilt batting and backing on the table with the safety pinned cotton side facing up. Then put the pinwheel quilt top face down on top of the quilt batting and backing (you will feel the seams on the pinwheel quilt top facing up). Line up the upper left corners, left side, and topside of the quilt batting and backing with the pinwheel quilt top. Pin and or clip these sides together through all layers of fabric.
• Pin together the remaining right and bottom sides of the pinwheel quilt top to the quilt batting and backing with straight pins. There will be excess quilt batting and backing on the right and bottom sides of the batting and backing that can be trimmed to be just slightly bigger than the pinwheel quilt top to get rid of excess bulk. Use the sticky back felt strips along the right and bottom edges of the pinwheel quilt top to help guide your cutting of the excess quilt batting and backing.
• Place additional sticky-back felt strips to the left and top perimeters of the pinwheel quilt top. Now you should have the sticky-back felt strips along all four sides to guide your stitching.
• Mark a 6-to-8-inch section on one of the sides of the pinwheel quilt top that will be left unsewn and used for turning your project right side out. Place safety pins to mark the beginning and end of a 6-8 inch turning section for your project in the center of one side of the pinwheel quilt top.
• Perform the running stitch just underneath the sticky-back felt strips, starting to the left of the left most safety pin if you are right-handed, or starting to the right of the right most safety pin if you are left-handed. Then proceed with the running stitch underneath the sticky-back felt strips all the way around the perimeter until you reach the opposite safety pin. Remove pins and clips as you come to them in your stitching. Remove the sticky-back felt strips once you have completed your stitching.
• Check to make sure there are no gaps in your stitching around the perimeter. Insert your hand into the unsewn opening in quilt and run your index finger along the inside seams to make sure there are no large gaps in your stitching. This is the time to fix any gaps while your project is still turned wrong side out.
• Once confirmed no gaps in stitching, place hand inside opening and pull a far corner of the quilt right side out through the opening. Then continue to turn the project right side out by pulling remaining corners through and make sure to gently insert finger into corners to push out the four corners.
• Ironing of the quilt at this point will be helpful to flatten and line up the seam allowances of the unsewn 6-8-inch portion with ¼” seams folded in toward each other.
• Stitch up the 6-8-inch opening with either a blind stitch or overcast stitch using white thread if possible, to match the white border strips.
• The last step is to complete the quilting stitches starting on the front side of the pinwheel quilt top. You will perform a running stitch along the edge of the folded half square triangles going diagonally down the centers of each of the four squares. Start in one corner of the half square triangle and stitch through all three layers of the quilt top, batting and backing with small and even running stitches. You can either use green thread if you don’t want your stitches to show much or use white stitches if you want the stitches to be decorative. TIP: When you end your quilt stitching, you should hide your thread tails by tying off your stitches and then putting the needle down through the fabric right where it was tied off and push the needle and thread through the center of the batting fabric so that it is traveling parallel to the quilt top and backing. Pull the needle and thread through the center batting layer for a couple of inches and then come through the back. Cut the thread close to the fabric and wiggle the fabric so that the thread tail will be hidden in the middle of the batting.
• You have the option to add more quilting stitches along the borders of the four squares by stitching in the ditch – which means you will perform running stitches along the seams where the squares intersect with each other going through all three layers of fabric, using the sewn seams as your stitch guide.
• Finally, you can also add quilting stitches around the perimeters, again going through all three layers of the fabric.
• Once completed your stitching, go over the front and back of fabric to make sure there are no more pins or clips to be removed. Then you are done!

 

Call us with any questions at 978-419-1824!

 

Happy Crafting!

 

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