Blocked Rainbow QAL {Week #1 - Red Pinwheels}

The 2018 quilt along is now over and the entire pattern is available as a single PDF pattern on Etsy and Craftsy.

Hats off to our first official week of the quilt along! Today we are making red pinwheels.

Obviously this week's technique is half square triangles (HSTs)!

Here are all of my blocks:

If you want to go scrappy here are some suggestions:
- If you want each pinwheel to be made up of the same fabric, you'll need to cut your red squares in pairs, which will result in four HSTs.
- You could also combine HSTs randomly and have four different red fabrics in each pinwheel.
-Feeling super scrappy? Use your favorite technique to make scrappy red slabs (a la Crazy Mom Quilts' "scrap vortex" technique) and then cut those slabs into the size squares you need for this step. This will allow you to use smaller scraps, but allot yourself extra fabric to account for the additional seams.

Don't feel overwhelmed by this week's assignment! Every week we'll be making fewer and fewer blocks so this week will likely be the most time consuming! It might be helpful to sew all of your HSTs at once and then set yourself up to do all of the trimming in front of your favorite movie to help the time pass more quickly!

I'm really excited to use the black background this time around! If you haven't picked up your backing fabric yet, our Kona sale is still going on!

This week our prize sponsor is Jennifer from The Inquiring Quilter and the winner will receive a PDF pattern of their choosing! She's currently a fellow Island Batik Ambassador! Here's a little bit about Jennifer:

Jennifer Fulton is a quilter/blogger who is passionate about color, fabrics, and design. She’s also extremely curious and asks a lot of questions—that’s the reason she named her blog The Inquiring Quilter!

Jennifer is also a technical writer with over 30 years experience. She’s written many books, including a book on quilting—Idiot’s Guide: Quilting. Currently, Jennifer writes a blog and designs quilts and patterns for leading fabric manufacturers such as RJR, Quilting Treasures, Timeless Treasures, Windham Fabrics, and Island Batik. She is also an Island Batik Ambassador. Jennifer recently designed patterns for Keepsake Quilting and Missouri Star, and has had her quilts displayed at Quilt Market.

Just post a picture of your progress on Instagram with the hashtag #BlockedRainbowQAL -or- post a picture in the HBD Quilts Facebook group! I'll pick one winner on Sunday night and share it in next Monday's post! We also have a giveaway and sale in honor of reaching 900 likes on Facebook! We are giving away a few copies of our new pattern, Summer Patio, and our Christine's Kitchen and Starburst patterns are $9 on Etsy for a short time only! (Regularly $12!!)

Also sharing at Linky Tuesday, Let's Bee Social, and Needle and Thread Thursday!

Schedule:
March 19 - Introduction, Yardage Requirements, Kona Sale with HBD
March 26 - Sponsors, Background Spacer cutting, Color Suggestions
April 2- Red Pinwheels <--- That's today!
April 9 - Orange Churn Dashes
April 16 - Yellow Flying Geese
April 23 - Green Sawtooth Stars
April 30 - Blue Bowties
May 7 - Purple Bear Paws
May 14 - Catch up week/Mother's Day
May 21 - Setting directions
May 28 - Catch up week/Memorial Day
June 4 - Finished Quilt Top Parade/Link Up