CRACKERJACK PINWHEEL QUILT

I’ve based this lap quilt pattern very loosely on the Letter X quilt block from the Ladies Art Company, with various changes to give the look that I wanted.  Once I had decided on the name Crackerjack it became obvious that I needed to make it in strong colours with plenty of red fabric.

This is a nine patch quilt block and I have made nine of them, sewn together in three rows of three quilt blocks.  The fabric requirement is just under a yard each of the red and black and 1/2 yard of the light fabric.

Making the quilt blocks

As usual I have tried to keep the pattern as simple as possible, so there are just three basic quilt blocks to complete to make the crackerjack pinwheel lap quilt.  the first one is a four patch unit.  This was made by sewingtogether a 2.1/2″ strip each of black and red and cutting across the strip at 2.1/2″ intervals to make the  rectangles shown.  Sew two of these together to make a four patch unit with the reds diagonally opposite each other.  You will need four of these for each block, which means thirty six in total.

 

The second block is a quarter square triangle unit and for this you will need 5.1/4″ squares in both black and white.  Make half square triangle units first by placing two squares with right sides together and marking a line along the diagonal.  Sew a 1/4″ seam either side of the line and cut along the diagonal to produce two half square triangle units.

 

 

Lay two half square triangle units with right sides together and the light triangle from one square against the dark triangle from the other square.  Mark a line along the diagonal that crosses the original seam.  Sew a 1/4″ seam either side of the marked line.  When you cut along the line this time you will end up with two quarter square triangles.  You will need thirty six of these.

 

Lay the quarter square triangle units and the four patch units as shown with a 4.1/2″ white square in the middle.  Sew the patches together across each row and then sew the rows together.  Make nine of these quilt blocks and sew them together in three rows of three blocks.

Rotate the quilt blocks so that the two side rows in the first block are on the top and bottom in the next block and so on.

 

Quilt border

 

I’ve added two quilt borders to this lap quilt pattern.  The first one is made using 2.1/2″ strips of black fabric:  two at 36.1/2″ for the top and bottom of the quilt and two at 40.1/2″ for the sides.

 

 

 

 

The second border was made using 2.1/2″ strips of red fabric:  two at 40.1/2″ for the top and bottom of the lap quilt and two at 44.1/2″ for the sides.

The crackerjack pinwheel quilt top is now complete and ready for layering, quilting and binding.  Full details are in the beginner quilting section.

Here’s the video: