Northwind Quilt using bonus HSTs

I finished a UFO that was at least 10 years old – maybe 15. The Northwind blocks were paper pieced and measure 3 ½”. When I picked it up again this past spring I noticed the preprinted paper had a date of 1992! Oh, my- no excuse for something taking that long. I used bonus triangles from a Square in a Square quilt I made quite a while ago and other scraps. That Square in a Square ruler is great for accuracy, but sure does leave you with a lot of “bonus” triangles.

BTW, this makes 12 finished quilts this year! I thought the blue and white 9-patch would be the 12^th, but it seems like I often go from one quilt to the next – completing steps as I go, but usually not finishing a quilt from start to finish without working on other quilts in between. I sometimes start off for the basement where I play thinking I’m going to do one thing and something else enters my mind on my way down and I end up doing something else. Don’t know why that is.

I finished the Northwinds center and added a border  - stood back and decided it needed pinwheels. I love pinwheels – I think they add motion and interest to a quilt. The pinwheels in the border measure 2 ½”.  I just noticed the 7 pinwheels in the Northwind center. Bonus pinwheels!

I want to show and tell you how I made the HSTs for the pinwheels in the border –

My bonus triangles are all light. For the medium/darks I used 1 ½” strips. I lined the triangles on top alternating placement and sewed down each side (lifting the tips of the triangles as I went). I did a very scant ¼” seam allowance. I cut them apart using scissors, trimmed them up at 1 ¾” with my rotary cutter and pressed the seams open. I’ve been pressing many of my seams open lately – it often helps with block construction. Not sure these pics will help, but I did my best -

I was glad I had enough of the inner border fabric to use for the binding. I cut the remainder into a 1 ½” strip and a string to add to my scrap system bins.

This is the first quilt I’ve ever blocked. I measured it and it was almost 1” wider on one side. I machine washed it to remove the markings, laid it on a folded beach towel and gently pulled until the measurement matched – 22”x30” –  stuck straight pins in around the edges and turned the ceiling fan on. A few hours later it was dry and true.

Now I'm thinking of what I can do with that bag still full of bonus triangles.