Spinning In Place
I recently finished this baby quilt titled Summer Spin.
Summer Spin completed.
Summer Spin is made up of kaleidoscope blocks in the mom and dad's favorite colors. I enjoy the secondary circular patterns of this block layout, which really stand out if you make the corner triangles match.
Kaleidoscope Block drawn using Electric Quilt software
The pattern is made up of a single repeated block. The block design is shown here in Electric Quilt, scaled to a 12" x 12" finished block, which is the size used in Summer Spin. Of course, you can scale the blocks larger or smaller, as long as you maintain the proportions.
The sides of the block are divided into thirds, and connecting lines create 8 triangles, 4 wide and 4 narrow. I chose a white background color that would be common to every block (Kona Snow here), a medium color to add to each corner triangle (Quilters Linen Iris in this case), and the rest of the fabrics were the same within a block, but scrappy across the quilt.
Summer Spin layout with borders using Electric Quilt
The spinning effect is created by alternating colorways. Half the blocks use the background fabric in the narrow triangles, and half the blocks use the background fabric in the wide triangles. Then the blocks are laid out alternating white-narrow / white-wide. The joined corners form a square, and those corner squares fool the eye into seeing a circle. The final result gives the impression of pinwheels twirling.
Summer Spin block layout on the design wall
I laid out the blocks on the design wall, adjusting for correct placement and color balance. I added two borders, basted with a whimsical backing and wool batting. Then I echo-quilted along all the seams in each block.
Echo quilting detail
Quilting viewed from the back
I was lucky enough to deliver the quilt in person to little K and her parents. Now I get regular pictures of Summer Spin, as a nursing blanket or a tummy-time quilt. So sweet.
