CURVED PIECING

Recently I taught a class with CURVED PIECING, Drunkard's Path blocks. This was somewhat unusual for me, they are not my favorite pieced blocks. The class was on a Stitchin Heaven 5 day cruise to Bermuda and this small, simple quilt was their selection for a short cruise.

The quilt is DAZZLED by Aunt Em's Quilts:

My top, about 51" square

I often say the 3 things we can do wrong in piecing a quilt block are the CUTTING, the SEWING and/or the PRESSING.  Having the KIT with Die-Cut pieces made the CUTTING  a non-issue. For those cutting their own fabric, it was very important to make the templates accurately and use them to cut the pieces accurately.

Here is the FABRIC LAYOUT for one 12" Block. It takes two prints and one background fabric. The pattern refers to the shapes as PIE and CRUST. Select a PIE and a CRUST that are the same fabric, here that is the RED print. The other two PIE pieces are a different print, one that contrasts with the first, the LIGHT print here. The remaining two CRUST pieces are from Background fabric, gray here:

Make 4 of each of these 3 units

The SEWING is a bit unusual. It looks like these pieces can't possibly fit, but THEY DO, if the templates are accurate:

It really helps to have the CRUST shape on top of the PIE, as shown. A friend says you want the SMILE ON TOP, that's how she remembers which shape is up. Thanks, Dawn!

I start by finding the center of each shape, finger pressing that, and matching them with a pin. There is not much fabric on the outer edges of the CRUST and my pins tended to slip while sewing.

I discovered in making my sample quilt that the SEWING was much easier to accomplish when I used fabric GLUE instead of pins to hold the pieces together. Most of the students found that to be true for them too.

My favorite fabric glue is from QUILTER'S SELECT. It dries quickly and doesn't leave any permanent residue:

A little dab of glue, and I do mean LITTLE, is all it took to secure the beginning and ending edges of the unit:

You could replace the center pin with a dab of glue but I left that one pin in place

Once the 12 Drunkard's Path units are made, it takes 4 Background squares to complete the 12" block:

There are acrylic templates for a variety of sizes of Drunkard's Path blocks. Most have a bit more fabric on the edges of the CRUST shapes. They still work for this design but there will just be a little more background on the flower design--that's what I see, a flower with FULL PETALS and HALF PETALS.

The students did well. My friend Jan used the Kit fabrics but added her own light Batik background fabric to make a baby quilt for a little girl:

Here is another fabric choice by a student:

And it always helps to have a "What NOT to DO" example:

Thanks, Tia!

                                                    

Curved piecing takes more time and care than straight piecing but the results can be very exciting. Try it, you might like it!

I will have fun machine quilting my class sample top and then donate it to charitable quilts my guild sponsors. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara