Sometimes, the best ideas are right in your own backyard. The Whirlwind Whiz is one of those bright ideas! It is the brain child of Nancy Wilson of Nancy's Quilt Designs. Nancy took up quilting seven years ago. Quilting was a perfect way for her to combine her passion for creating art and engineering skills (she has a degree in Chemical Engineering). One day while making quarter square triangles for a whirlwind block, Nancy's engineer brain decided there had to be a better way. The traditional method of making quarter square triangles is to cut your squares, slice them into triangles, and then sew your triangles together. See the diagram below.
Traditional method for making quarter square triangles
What if you no longer had to cut square into 4 triangles and then sew them into pairs? There must be a better way. And there was! Thus the Whirlwind Whiz was born! This new tool let's you make four identical quarter square triangle pairs by sewing 2 squares together and then doing the cutting.
The Whirlwind Whiz Tool
We caught wind of this nifty little tool when we saw it mentioned in a newsletter from a local quilt shop, Amelia's Fabric & Yarn Shoppe. A few phone calls later and we have a new product to offer you! How does the tool work? Check out the short video as Nancy demonstrates it.
By cutting out 2 squares, marking them with the Whirlwind Whiz, then sewing and cutting, you end up with four matching triangle pairs!
Four identical quarter square triangles from the Whirlwind Whiz
We are currently offering two patterns that use the Whirlwind Whiz. This is the Cosmic Commotion Wall Hanging. It could easily be scaled up to make a larger quilt.
The second pattern is Whirlwind of Fall. It looks complicated, but it's not!
- Whirlwind of Fall Center Piece Pattern