Today Jason and I traveled to see my mom, Mary—and like we always do when we get together, we sewed. Mom has this super fun collection of camping fabrics that’s been waiting for the right project, plus loads of leftovers, so I decided to turn it into a big, bold Carpenter’s Wheel-style quilt. I used Donna Jordan’s Carpenter’s Wheel as my inspiration (I love that extra “starburst” round), but I adjusted the size and shifted the background placement to suit the fabrics we had on hand. I mapped everything out first (I even mocked it up digitally), then planned three backgrounds—dark green, orange, and a creamy white—to break up the movement and give your eye a little rest. The build is very production-line friendly: I cut 6" squares for half-square triangles, sewed a quarter inch on either side of my drawn diagonal, and squared everything to 5 1/2" (finishing at 5" in the quilt). This is a 12x12 layout for a 60" square, and I assembled it Donna’s way by building four quadrants, stacking them, and webbing the rows so nothing gets flipped. We also chatted contrast, pressing for nesting seams, and the idea of a 3 1/2" orange border to let that center medallion shine.