TWIST N STITCH QUILT TOP WITH RETIRED STAMPIN' UP! FABRIC

Do you remember when Stampin' Up! offered a few fabric designs?  It was a long time ago.  Seriously, I think it was 10 years ago, and I believe they were 1/4 yard pieces.  At some point in time, they ended up in the Clearance Rack for just a bit more than pennies, and I still have a few pieces to work with.  That isn't too surprising, though, since I just started sewing last year.  After purchasing a Twist n Stitch template recently, I put some of the fabric to use on a practice project.  As the title of this blog post indicates, it's about a sewing project and has nothing to do with stamping.  Stick around, though, and see what the twist is all about because it's pretty neat.  Below is a photo of the template.  You'll notice that it has a wonky cross in the center.

The first step in creating a twister quilt is to sew rows of blocks together, and then sew a border on all four sides.  My blocks measured 5", and the borders are 3" wide.  In case you're wondering, I used a pattern that I found online to place the blocks so they would form the shape of a heart once all cuts were made with the template and the blocks were sewn together again.  BTW, the block in the very center of my top row should have been cream colored but, other than that, the remaining blocks were placed according to the pattern.

Once my quilt top with borders was prepared, it was time to start cutting it up.  Normally, this is the time when batting and backing are added to a quilt top so the quilting can begin, so it seemed strange  to think about cutting it up.  That's where the wonky cross in the center of the template went to work.  The object is to line up the wonky cross with the first intersecting seams on the fabric, make the two cuts on the left and right of the 3-1/2" section, twist the template so that it again lines up with the intersecting seams, and cut the top and bottom of the 3-1/2" section.  Clear as mud?  Basically, the template has two tracks for your rotary blade, but a square requires four cuts.  You make the left and right cuts first, twist the template, and make the top and bottom cuts to completely cut a square from your quilt top. It seems confusing, but the cutting was really easy!  I should also mention that there are other templates (various sizes) that you can use, but this one seemed easier for me than trying to keep a rotary blade straight and steady around a small square.  😜

The most important part of cutting blocks (after making sure the wonky cross is lined up with the intersecting seams) out of the quilt top is keeping them lined up (or stacked) in order.  You'll notice in the photo below that the cut square is diagonal and, to keep the cut squares in order, I just rotated each one to the right and laid each of them across the top of my cutting mat.

The photo below shows the first three blocks cut from my quilt top and the template in place and ready to cut the fourth block.

To keep confusion to a minimum, I sewed the blocks immediately after they were cut from the row. One by one, I sewed the first block to the second block, etc. and then placed the rows on my design board.    Below is a photo of the twisted blocks from row one all sewn together.  

The twisted blocks immediately took on a brand new look!  You can see from the finished quilt top that pinwheels have appeared!

But . . . can you also see the shape of a heart?

If that center block on row one had been cream-colored, the heart shape might show up better.  Actually, I think solid or batiks would be perfect for this type of quilt, but I wanted to use what I had for the practice/trial.  I really enjoyed this project--even more than I thought it would--and I will definitely try again with more careful attention to choosing fabrics that are less "busy".  

What do you think?  Looks fun or not worth the effort?