Curved seams

I taught myself how to quilt by reading books gotten from the library, and from old issues of Quilters Newsletter I would find at quilt shows. There was no internet then, no blogs to surf, or google to search with.

So when I learned a new technique, I was never intimidated by it. I never read or heard that others were intimidated by it or that people had a hard time with it.

Curves are simple, albeit frustrating at times. The key is to use lots of pins, and go slowly.

I started out with some colorful squares. (Please forgive the fuzzy pictures, not sure why the camera is doing that on some.)

Cut out my concave (top) and convex (bottom) pieces.

Fold in half and finger press. This will give you the middle of each piece, so you can line them up. No markers to fuss with and the line easily comes out.

Rights sides together, match middle lines and pin.

Then start pinning to the left, or right, about every half inch. Gently pulling the concave piece to fit the lines of the convex piece. Making sure there is no small ruffles.

Here is the other side. This is the side that I like to have face up when sewing. That way you can ease around the big ruffles.

Sometimes it's helpful to cut tiny, itty bitty notches in both pieces of the curve. Helps to ease the two pieces together. You notice that the notches are less than 1/4".

Now put your pieces under the needle and slowly go along the edge, pulling pins as you get to them, and gently easing the the pieces together.

If you get to a ruffle that wont move, you can manipulate the fabric just a bit, to make it smooth again. Taking a pin out and adjusting it as needed.

Here it is, all trimmed and ready for the iron. You will notice the fold lines match perfectly.

I always press the seam up, they sit easier that way.

I am quilting this and making  a pillow out of it...notice the top left piece. It has some tiny ruffles there, but those are easily taken out with the iron...apparently I didn't iron well enough ;) .....

I'll show you when it's done.

I hope that I've helped take the intimidation out of curves for you. Feel free to leave comments or questions.

Thanks for stopping by,

Till next time....

Dorian
Copyright D. Lucas, 2011 This is my tutorial. You are welcome to use any of my tutorials for personal use. You are not permitted to use my pictures or my words without linking back to the original and giving me credit for them.