This scrap quilt is an easy one patch pattern. However, this Windmill Blades Quilt is also the story of what happens when the quilter does not pay attention to the directions and ends up with enough cut for two quilts.

Ugh…the “mistake”

The pattern and lay out were simple. I saw it and thought it was a great way to use up more of those pesky scraps that continue to multiply in the scrap bins.

After choosing the scraps and ironing, grab that rotary cutter and cut those pieces.

The problem? It is not a true one patch because half the quilt needs to be cut with the pattern piece reversed.

Did I pay attention to this? No. I was too busy happily cutting up scraps and just enjoying the process of cutting out the top.

Stacks of four “blades” all over the table. Still haven’t figured out the problem. Yes, apparently, I can be more than a bit slow at times.

But as I went to sew the “blades” with the background I discovered the problem. The background and “blade” did not fit if I wanted to use the right sides up of each piece. Groan. Now what?

Correcting

To correct the problem, I ended up cutting enough “blades” to make a second top. This time I paid attention to how I put the pattern pieces on the fabric.

The muslin background pieces had no right or wrong side, but the other pieces did.

It took me the next year on and off to finish piecing the tops. The one pictured here was machine quilted by RLM in June of 2019. The backing is a flat sheet. The finished size was 88″ x 88″. I gave it to my mom-in-law for a gift.

The second one has a black background and can be seen in this post.

She always thinks my quilts are beautiful. And because of that she gets lots of gift quilts.

The lesson

I rarely do quilts that have reverse pieces, like this Windmill Blades Quilt. I honestly just did not think about it as I was cutting the first set of pieces.

So, learn from my mistake and pay attention to the quilt pattern. Yes, even in something that looks like a simple one patch.

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.