73
ESSENTIALGUIDE lsewingpiecedcurves
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I’mtryingtomakeblockswithcurves,butI havetroublemaking the edges
meetupneatlyonsomeshapes.Istherea ruletofollow?
Tr ythis...I tendto dividecurvesintotwobasictypes those with a 90-degree edge
(ormore or less) a nd t hose t hat come to a poi nt.
1
Wheretheedgeis roughly90-degrees,I matchupthe edges (seeFig 11 ).
This sort of edge occurs with simple quadrants.
2
Whereoneedgecomestoa point,thepointhastobeo set.Sewingthecurved
rectangularblockdescribedonpage 70 is a goodexample.It is madeupofthree
shapes,A,B andC.WhensewingA andB togetheryouwillneedtoo setthepoints
ofshapeA asshowninFig 12. Anothermethodis topinhorizontallyalongthe
proposedseam infromtherawedge(insteadofat a rightangletotheseam),asthis
willallowyoutoopenuptheproposed seam before you sew, so you can check the
edges of it are properly aligned.
CREATIVE PIECING WITH CURVES –
TROUBLESHOOTING
Someiconic blocksaremadebypre-piecingthe patchwork.
Here are answers to some questions about piecedcurvedshapes.
Aboutthedesigner
LindaClementsis a leadingtechnicalquiltingexpert,
editorandwriterwho,for 25 years,hasworkedon
manyfabricandcrafttitlesfor F&W Media and other
leadingcraftpublishers.
AmongthemanyquilterswhohavetrustedLindato
ensuretheirbooksarebothaccurateandreaderfriendly,
areLynneEdwardsMBE,SusanBriscoeandPam&
NickyLintott.Linda’sownbook,TheQuilter’sBible, is
themust-haveguidetopatchwork,quiltingandappliqué,
and includes everything she has learnt working with the
industry’sbestdesigners.ForTo d ay’sQ u i l t e r, Lindais
workingwiththeteamtoselectpracticalandcreative
techniquestohelpyoubuilduponyourquiltingandsewing
skills.Shewillthengoindepth,exploringthemethods,
takingthemfromthebasicpremisetotheirfulltechnical
andcreativepotential.Youcancutoutandkeepthis
section to build your own bespoke technical handbook.
ESSENTIALGUIDENEXTISSUE:
MAKINGPICTORIALPATCHWORK
Havefunlearninghowtomakepictureblocks
Fig 11 Curves with straight edges
Fig 12 Curve with a pointed edge (or edges)
A
B
A
B
Pointededgesofshape
A need to be offset
Back view, once sewn
Alignthe
straight
edgesat
the sides
Fig 13 Blocks in groups
Whenlookingfornew
blockstomake,I findit
hardtovisualisethem
ina design.Doyou have
youanytips?
Tr ythis...I lovethat
momentof puttinga block
togetherto seeif thedesign
‘works’.Ratherthanuse
uptimeandfabricmaking
severalblocks,I makea block
drawingandthencopyor
photocopyit to puttogether
a FourorNine-patch
arrangement.Someblocks
areonlyseenin theirfull
glory this way(Fig 13 ).
PickleDish
four-patch
Double
Wedding
Ring
four-patch