Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Curves Class

I asked the OnlyChild to sign me up for Stitched in Color's Curves Class for my Christmas present. Registration didn't open until January 1 so the OnlyChild got me a different (and very lovely) gift. Since I still wanted to take the class, I decided to sign myself up for it!

Today we got the instructions for our first project - a cute little scallop bunting.

I planned to make mine in red and hang it in my sewing room. I thought it would look nice against the pale yellow walls. But...in order to make my bunting in red, I needed red bias tape, which would necessitate a trip to the fabric store. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but I got about 2 hours sleep last night and wasn't up for a trek to the mall.

I had purple bias tape though.


Cute, cute, cute. This was an easy project...baby steps. I'm not a novice at sewing curves - I've made plenty of garments - but I enjoyed the simplicity of this pattern. I can't wait to get to some of the more advanced techniques and projects!

On Saturday, I finished up that stack of Dresden Plates and made all 12 of my circles. I used the Fons and Porter interfacing method, as suggested in the comments on my last post, and it worked like a charm. The template recommended in the original pattern is the Bigger Perfect Circle template that you can gather the fabric around and iron for a nice crisp edge. I didn't have that. But then, I didn't have the teflon sheet recommended for the interfacing method either. I used a piece of aluminum foil to put under my circles when I ironed them. They peeled right off. Ha! I am the queen of improvisation (mainly because I'm too cheap/lazy to buy all the little gadgets).


Next step in the Dresden process: sew them down to the white squares (which need to be cut).

I'm still hoping to finish the Christmas Strings quilt before the end of the month. The top is done, I have batting, so I just need the backing fabric. It should be an easy finish...

4 comments:

Four dogs and one quilter said...

Your circles look great, glad you like that method. Are you going to sew your plates on by hand or machine?

Lynne said...

A class in curved piecing sounds like fun and I'm sure I would learn a lot since I haven't made any garments for thirty years or so!

They say that "necessity is the mother of invention" and you are proving it!

Thimbleanna said...

Wow girl -- you're hiking right along! Those circles look wonderful -- that interfacing deal is a great method!

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

Cute all around. Can't wait to see your finished Christmas strings and dresden plates.