Curved piecing part 2

Yaaa-hoo! Hot off the design wall. Licorice Allsorts. The pattern is the pickle dish in Kaffe Fassett's

Quilt Romance book.

As you can see I went for more of a scrappier look and bordered it with the background fabric which is Guinea Flower in mauve. I like the way the arcs float.

I did say I would show you how I did the curved piecing so lets start.

First, lay out the pieces. I use a felt covered board to transfer the pieces off the design wall so that I don't get them mixed up. I also like to put a pin in the arc that's the uppermost one so I don't mix them up.

Step 1

In the middle of the pieces that have curved edges, I make a very small, shallow clip within the seam allowance only.

Step 2

Every arc has a backgound pieced to the outer edge so I''ll sew them first. Pinning is the key to making sure it's going to sew together nicely.

Match the outer edges and center notches and pin. Then I put a pin in next to the middle pin  and another next to the outer pins and finally a couple inbetween. Doing it this way, it seems to fit together without any problems.

Step 3

At this point, I sew the seam and I recommend sewing with the foot down and needle down if you have that option. If I  have to lift the foot to adjust anything, the knee lift is great too. I also always sew with the concave piece on top, (the one that has an edge that looks like the mouth of a cave)

You can see with a large gentle curve, it's not looking too hard. I always use the tips of my scissors to help me with feeding through and keep the seam in front of the foot flat. It's my extra finger. You can use a stiletto or seam ripper the same way but I always have my scissors right there. . It's also really helpful to flip seams or for easing the top layer if you need to. If you've done dressmaking or made soft toys, it's really not that much different.

Step 4

It's time to pin and sew the ellipse shape to the arc. That's the small piece in the middle of the block.

The pinning is exactly the same. Make sure the ends are aligned and the edges of both pieces are absolutely together. Pin the ends, then the middle matching the clips. Then pin the same way as in the previous step.

It should fit together perfectly but if there is a discrepancy, you can hold the piece as I've shown in the picture below and give a little gentle stretch to both pieces. Be careful not to pull too hard or those stitches may pop open.

View from the other side. When you put it under the foot to sew, try to keep this side flat aginst the bed of the machine. You don't want to sew in any tucks.

Step 5

Go ahead and sew it the same way as the larger curved piece. You may have to go slower and keep the point of the scissors in front of the foot. Only be concerned about the area around the foot, not the parts over far to the left, they won't interfere with anything. 

Once that piece is sewn on, open up the seam on the right side and press, not iron. You don't want to stretch the block out of shape. Once the squares are sewn on, then it's time to sew the last curved seam.

Step 6

Pin the same way, matching seams and go ahead and sew the seam.

I took this photo to demonstrate how the piece on top is blousing up and creating what looks like a bulge. It's like a petticoat, it has flounce. To correct that, all you need do is pick up that piece on top and move it towards the back, it will magically flatten out as you distribute the bulk. When sewing curves, it's important to ensure that if you lift the foot to do any adjusting, the needle doesn't pull on the fabric or when you commence sewing again, your stitches will drift and create peaks on the right side.

Voila

I pressed the seams open when joining blocks to distribute the bulk. I used a stitch length of 2 when doing all the sewing. I also flipped the odd seam on the back to get seams butting opposite to each other when sewing the blocks together.

Whew, that  was a lot of photos but since I'm a very visual learner myself, I think it may help to explain things. If you've never had a go at curved piecing,  my hope is  that  this may encourage you. The larger gentle curves are easy but it does get more difficult as the curves get tighter and smaller so I don't attempt things like a 2" drunkards path. I do have my limits.