Free Weathervane Variation Quilt Block Pattern

Today we're going to piece together this traditional Weathervane Variation quilt block. What makes this Weathervane quilt block different is the pinwheel in the middle! Not hard to do - just squares and Flying Geese units - so let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Weathervane Variation Quilt Block:

• Light/White: 8 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and 4 - 2.5" x 2.5" squares
• Medium/Blue: 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles
• Medium/Pink: 12 - 2.5" squares
• Dark/Blue: 20 - 2.5" squares

Sewing Directions:

Flying Geese Units:

Step 1:

The first Flying Geese units we're going to make are the Light/White and Dark/Blue ones shown below. Using the Light/White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and 16 of the Dark/Blue 2.5" squares, make a total of 8 Flying Geese units. You can find my tutorial for making a "no trimming necessary" Flying Geese block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block

Step 2:

Now we're going to make four Flying Geese units using the Medium/Blue 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and eight of the Medium/Pink 2.5" squares as shown in the picture below.

Two Patch Unit:

Step 3:

Now we're going to sew a Medium/Pink 2.5" square and a Dark/Blue 2.5" square together and press the seam allowance toward the Dark/Blue fabric as shown below. Repeat for a total of four Two Patch units.

Pinwheel Units:

Step 4:

Sew together one of the Two Patch units (Step 3) and one of the Medium/Blue & Medium/Pink Flying Geese units (Step 2) as shown in the picture below.

Step 5:

Press the seam allowance away from the Flying Geese unit as shown below. Repeat for a total of four Pinwheel units.

Block Center:

Step 6:

Lay out the Step 5 Pinwheel units as shown below. 

Step 7:

Sew the Pinwheel units into two rows as shown in the picture below.

Step 8:

And press the seam allowances as shown below.

Step 9:

Now you can sew the two rows together and ...

Step 10:

Press the seam allowances. I used the tweak/twirl/furl method as you can see in the picture below. (This is a cute block all by itself!)

Border Units:

Step 11:

To make the Border units, sew two of the Step 1 Flying Geese units together end to end and press the seam allowance open as shown in the picture below. Repeat for a total of four Border units.

Putting It All Together:

Step 12:

Lay out the center Pinwheel unit, the Border units, and four of the Light/White 2.5" squares according to the picture below. From here, the Weathervane Variation quilt block goes together like a simple Nine Patch block.

Step 13:

Now we can sew the units into three rows as shown below.

Step 14:

And press the seam allowances away from the Light/White & Dark/Blue Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below.

Step 15:

Sew the three rows together and we've done! Well, except for the pressing.

Step 16:

Press the seam allowances toward the center of the block as shown in the picture below. All finished!

Conclusion:

I had fun with this Weathervane Variation quilt block. I chain-pieced all the Flying Geese units together so that went fairly fast. From there it was pretty simple sewing. I probably could have picked more contrasting fabric for the Pinwheel unit but I'm still happy with how it turned out.

So give this Weathervane Variation quilt block a try and let me know how it turned out!