quilting curves

What is the best way to sew curved pieces in a quilt? I've never tried it but would like to. Not sure the best way to make it come out right. Curved piecing requires patience, but no particular skill. There are several ways you can do it. The most basic is to take your two pieces and put the convex (curing to the outside) piece on the bottom. Put the concave (curving to the inside) on top, lining up at the middle (sometimes it helps to mark the center point on both). Pin at the center. Find the halfway point for each side, and gently pull the fabric to meet at that point, and pin again. Pin at the beginning and ending points. Pin between each of the pins. Pin pin pin pin pin. Always sew with the flat, undistorted piece on the bottom, and the squinched up piece on top, so you can see what is happening. VERY SLOWLY, start sewing, using your fingers or a stiletto to ease the fabric under the foot, keeping it flat. Sew all the way around, and when you're finished, press it flat. I've seen experienced curved piecers sew the pieces together without pinning anything, just working the fabric under the foot with a stiletto. I'm not quite up to that yet. There is also a special curved piecing foot that you can buy that helps guide the fabric. If that's too much stress, you can try paper piecing curves. Check out a book by Jodie Davis called "Paper Pieced Curves" - she's developed a method to sew curves without all the fuss. Instead of two flat pieces of fabric, you end up with deliberate pleats in the curved piece. It's a cool idea - I took a one hour class with her at a quilt show and she demonstrated it. If you've never paper pieced, try her book "10-20-30 Minutes to Learn Paper Piecing." It's a good beginner book, and it includes instructions on curved paper piecing. Also check out the last link for step by step instructions with photos of her method.

CURVES UNLIMITED Curved Patch QUILTING Quilt Patterns Curves in Motion Quilt Designs Techniques by Judy B Curves in Motion Quilt Designs Techniques by Judy B Dales 1999 Paperback Quilting by Improvisation Exploring Curves Openwork Quilting Curves An Innovative Technique for Machine Pi Curves in Motion Quilt Designs Techniques Print on Quilting Curves An Innovative Technique for Machine piecing Curves with Incredi

Patchwork Quilting

Patches can make up a fashionable, yet old-style quilt that will last for a long time to come. To create patchwork you will need fabric. You merely cut the pieces of your fabric to form patches and design, stitching in simple numerical lines. If you are creating the traditional patchwork, you will need fabrics, including lengthy stripes, squares, curved shapes, and rectangles. You can leave out the shapes that curve if you don't want to go through the steps of creating a complex quilt.

Crafters often use patches to create quilts with many parts, such as the quilts that resemble the Picasso arts, or the basic quilts. Once you gather your patches, you will need to form blocks of your fabric. The blocks in crafter terms include the "corn and beans," motifs, "turkey tracks, maple leaf," and so on. One of the more attractive quilts is the "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul" blocks. Regardless, you will need blocks to finish your quilt.

To start you will need to select your block scheme. You have the choice of the 4-patch scheme, or the 9-patch. The patch block schemes make up grids, which fill in various simple lines in numbers and shapes. The 4-patch is one of the common patterns used to make traditional quilts. The 9-patch is also used, yet other styles are made up on different geometric grids.

The 4-patch:
The 4-patch is 4-squares factored into a numerical grid. For instance, you can picture a box, draw a cross inside, and count 1-4 to achieve the 4-block scheme. To continue to the 4-patch scheme you would need to add squares, stripes, etc.

The overall notion behind the 4-patch scheme is that you can use a variety of patches to create a multi-color quilt, yet you must lay out your block foundation first.

Now if you want to use the 9-patch scheme you would create nine squares in your grid and either leave them together or break them into parts. Still, you must leave the 9-patch structure.

For instance, if you were to take a piece of craft paper, rather graphing paper and draw per inch, four squares, eight squares, and then another ten, you would have your foundation to start your patchwork. To make up your designs however, you would need to add shapes to your grids.

Once you design your craft on graphing paper, you can create a full-size block. You will need to cut your patches, as well as create templates however before you can start your quilt.

To start your quilt you will need to consider the style again. Do you want the 12, 14, 16, 18, or larger blocks? If you are new to making quilts, you may want to start with the lower block inches. However, you will need to learn how to make borders to complete the quilt.

Once you decide you will need to consider your schemes. If you are working the 4-patch scheme on blocks, around 4 inches then you will need to cut your patches 2 inches in squares. The higher the scheme, the more patch inch squares you would need. For instance, if you want to create a 12-block scheme, you would need twelve patches and cut in six-inch squares.

On the other hand, if you were using the 9-patch scheme, choosing the 12-inch blocks then you would need to cut your patches into 4-inch squares.

Now you can move to create your templates. Templates in crafter terms are patterns, which are cut from strong fabrics, or materials. You need the templates to create an easy squared quilt, otherwise prepare to battle.

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