Fabric-and-paper pinwheels

Nothing says Happy Easter and Happy Spring like pinwheels and posies! 

Paper and fabric pinwheels in small pots of violets
say "Happy Easter" or "Happy Spring."

Hop over to Sew Many Ways for a great tutorial on these quick little paper-n-fabric pinwheels. I made up a few for gifts using bits of various fabrics from the lines I carry—Peppered Cottons, Sumatra batiks and quilting cottons by Blank Quilting Corp and StudioE Fabrics.

The materials are minimal: fabric scraps (shot cottons, batiks, quilters cottons), 20# bond paper (I used this grape color), plastic drinking straws, cutting tools (scissors or rotary cutter), tapestry needle and embroidery floss.

Supplies for pinwheels.

The how-to at Sew Many Ways is very clear and easy to follow. She uses a colorful scrapbook paper print for her pinwheels, but I decided to use fusible web (Wonder Under) to fuse the fabrics to paper.

My pinwheels were based on a 4" square (which fit nicely into these little potted violets), so I got 4 wheels out of one sheet of 8.5" x 11" paper. Instead of hot glue, I ran a needle with 6-strand embroidery floss (put a big knot in the tail) through the corners of the fabric-fused paper and then through the center mark to the back. Pull the floss snug. Then push the needle through the plastic drinking straw. Knot to secure. A drop of seam sealant (Fray Check) secures both knots.

Peppered Cotton striped pinwheel.

Sometimes a little paper-n-fabric crafty project brightens the day.