Baby Quilt--Saturday Workshop #6 (Free Hand Cutting Gentle Curves)

Fabrics for the baby quilt

Next month, I'll begin posting about the other virtual Saturday Workshops that my guild has held this year. 

Before COVID, Saturday Workshops were held one Saturday in January at a church. Members led the classes. There was always a great variety of classes. Some were three hours and some were six hours. At most you could take two classes. A half day class cost $10 and a full day class cost $20. The fee went toward facility rental.

Last year, we had virtual classes every Saturday in January. It cost $5 for a half day class and $10 for a full day class. While it was fun to be able to attend all those classes, it was also exhausting! (Kudos to those instructors who figured out how to make their classes virtual!) 

This year, we had three classes in January. From February through June, one full day or two half day classes are scheduled. Class fees are the same as last year. 

Second cut

If you renewed your $40 annual guild membership by March 31, Saturday Workshops were free. (The board thought this would encourage members to sign up early.) I paid my membership and was money ahead. There were eight half day classes and three full day class scheduled. Each class that I've attended has been fun. I've picked up some great tips! 

Last Saturday in a three hour virtual technique workshop, Rosanne H shared how to create and to stitch gentle free form curves. I've made these before; but, I always learn tips. I had two take aways after class: 1. You can't go wrong, it's only fabric. 2. I've practiced enough now that I will no longer be tentative about how to place the fabrics to be able to stitch the curves!

I had planned to only listen to the class because I wasn't feeling well. Gertie, however, was not satisfied at all with that approach. I didn't want another project. Gertie wanted to play. I didn't. She suggested that I could start the baby quilt and use this technique to construct the top. I sighed. I told Gertie "Okay."  She did back flips of joy!

Center panel of top finished

A neighbor, who lives across the street, is expecting a little girl in July. Some of these fabrics were in my friend Martha's stash and some came from my friend JoJo. I purchased the two gray flannel fabrics.

My favorite fabric is the duck print. I considered cutting it into two sections; but, Gertie suggested it would make a bigger impact if I left it in one piece. I had to admit that I agreed with her.

I pieced the yellow to make it wide enough to fit the area I wanted to fill.  I loved being able to use the larger chunks of the scraps. With about 40 minutes left of the three hour class, I had pieced the center of the top. At this point, Gertie reminded me that if I were making a pattern, I might have a few blocks stitched!

Top at the end of the first sewing session

I did share my progress with Rosanne and she shared my photo with the class. It was fun to see all the different fabrics, orientations and curves that people constructed. The variety was amazing!

It was tricky to cut a curved border that was longer than my cutting mat. I found using a pin to hold the layers together above the cutable area allowed less shifting of the fabrics.

About 40 minutes after class ended, I had pieced the top. I stopped for the day at this point. The last border on one side had ripples. I wanted to think about how to fix it over night.

The following day, I tried making a deeper curve; but that didn't help the ripple issue. What did help was to take a few seams in the strip. In the end, I managed to remove most of the wave in that border.

Pieced back

I pieced the back. I knew I wanted to use the grey dotted fabric for the binding. To ensure that I had enough to go around the quilt, I cut the binding before I started laying out possibilities for the back.

Because I hope the child will drag this quilt everywhere, I used the plain gray flannel fabric for the back. Gray won't show the dirt as much as yellow would have! Of course, I didn't have enough grey fabric. I also had a curved edge on one side the grey flannel.

I needed all the fabric I could get, so I laid a yellow strip along the edge; but, it wasn't long enough. No problem, I pieced it with a piece of the dot print. I still was a few inches short of having the back wide enough. I was able to cut a strip of the gray dotted fabric. When I added it to the back, I was relieved that it was big enough for my top! 

Backing ready to receive pieced batting

If I had had another brighter fabric chunk, I would have pieced another curve into the backing. I love the interest effect the curve provided for the back. 

Next, I pieced some chunks of 80/20 batting to make a piece large enough to cover the top. I piece the leftovers of my batting together. I'd rather purchase thread or fabric so I use every bit of the batting leftover from a previous project possible.

I laid the backing on my kitchen table. When the backing is larger than my table, I use clamps all around. When the backing is smaller that my table, I use masking tape to hold the backing in place. 

Basted and ready to quilt

In this case, the backing was a little larger than my table on one side. I used a combination of tape and clamps to hold the backing in place! I laid my batting on top of the backing and smoothed it in place. I laid the top on top of the batting and smoothed the top again. I got out my basting safety pins and pinned all the layers together at medium intervals.

In about an hour, I had pin basted this 40 inch x 42 inch top! Perhaps, over the next couple of days, I will complete the quilting. My plan is that the quilting will be simple and add texture.

I plan to use my walking foot to stitch wavy lines as the quilting. I think that a yellow and gray thread would blend well in the light and dark fabrics respectively. I plan to use polyester thread in the needle and cotton thread in the bobbin.  My goal is to keep the quilt soft and snuggly.

This was goal number 10 on my February list. It has been a fun and a relatively quick project. I definitely will use this technique again! Thanks Rosanne H for sharing the curved piecing technique!