Whirligig - Alternate block for Lozenge Unit, Quilter's Recipe Box

Welcome to month number seven of the Quilter's Recipe Box. If you are new to the series, check out the Quilter's Recipe Box tab at the top of my blog for an overview and a look at all the blocks I've made so far.  For this project I've been using Dotalicious from Island Batik.  Such a fun line!

I was having a bit of a mental block for working on this week's block - I think my sewing room has reached a tipping point - I've got to do something about the mess and disorder in there or I'll just start pitching stuff in the closet so I don't have to look at it anymore.  I did do some rearranging and tried to get rid of some of the clutter.  You know how it goes, though - I mostly just shuffled piles from one spot to another!  I did get it clean enough to feel like working on this block finally, though.

I liked the idea of using the Lozenge unit to make a star in the center of the block, but really fussed around about what to do with the corners.  I tried the white on the outside, but that was pretty blah.  Finally I tried it with the green on the outside and that made it come to life for me!

Quite a few pieces for this block, but it goes together quickly!  Cut four 3 1/2 inch squares of your darkest fabric.  Cut twelve 2 inch squares of a light color.  You need two 3 7/8 squares of your background fabric, cut in half diagonally for the half square triangle units.  Cut two 3 7/8 inch squares of a contrasting fabric for the corners (cut in half diagonally) and one 3 1/2 inch square of the same for your center block.

Sew a light 2 inch square to opposite corners of your dark 3 1/2 squares.  Arrange them so that the light corners look like star points.

Sew your four half square triangle units for the corners.  

Then sew the Square in a Square unit for the center and you have all your units completed for the block:

Sew the units together and you have your finished block!  

I really like the spinning motion of this block - I think it could make a fun quilt on its own.

My plan for this week is to work on two custom quilts using baby clothes and try to make a bit more progress in organizing my sewing room!  I also have several blog posts planned, so I can show some projects I've finished up this last week.  Maybe I'll even show you my progress in cleaning up...we'll see, it's a bit embarrassing at the moment!