Fairground Pinwheels

Fairground Pinwheels is a 67 by 67 inch square throw of thirty-six eight-inch Pinwheel blocks. Each Pinwheel is four half-square triangles: cream in one pair of opposite corners and a single pastel in the spinning blades. Even rows mix Sherbet Peach with Lemon Sherbet; odd rows mix Toy-Box Mint with Soft Lilac, so the four colours sit in a tidy two-by-two that never lets the same pastel neighbour itself.

Two inches of Picture Book Cream run between the blocks, so the blades float on a cream field instead of touching. Soft Charcoal Line, one and a half inches, draws a thin edge around that field. Three inches of Soft Lilac finish the square, picking up the lilac pinwheels.

Cut four matching half-square triangles for every Pinwheel, join them so the pastel blades meet at the centre and spin the same way, then sash the rows before adding charcoal and lilac. Watch the centre point so the four seams nest.

Sew it for a playroom wall, a picnic on the rug, or a first square quilt that still looks like a stall of paper toys. The file has yardage, a cutting chart, the sewing order, and the finished layout.