Sewing curves
is a skill many quilters avoid learning. They seem so daunting to some
of us; we also hear grumblings here and there about how hard curves can
be.
But if our four teachers this month are
any example, curves are easy to master. On Sunday, October 19, we
gathered to learn with Heather Kinion, Laura Hartrich, Emily Lang, and
Sara Hochhauser through a round of 20-minute tutorials.
Heather demonstrated glue basting for working with curves. (Watch her Quilty episode on it here.)
She said glue basting is great for achieving precise curves (pins can
sometimes distort fabric). She uses simple Elmer's Glue; the big glue
sticks can make it hard to be precise and can leave hard-to-sew-through
clumps, while the glue bottle allows a sewist to use tiny drops or a
tiny line of glue. (In fact, you can buy a fine tip to add to your glue
bottle - just make sure to rinse them immediately after every use.)
She
advised us to not glue baste on a cutting mat; instead, she uses a
Teflon Fons and Porter pressing sheet, and then uses her iron to heat
set the glue...once you have a stack of heat-set glue basted pieces,
they'll stay ready for you to machine sew indefinitely. Finally, any
glue that gets stuck on your iron will peel right off after the iron
cools.
Emily taught
us about improv curved piecing. The only rule, she said, is that as you
cut pieces to put together, the height of each piece of fabric should
match. Overlap two pieces of fabric by two to three inches, and using a
rotary cutter moving away from your body, cut a gentle freeform curve.
She advised we start with prints, rather than solids, so we always know
which is the right side (otherwise it can be hard to match up pieces).
Once you've cut your pieces, remove the small ends and place the two
pieces right sides together.
Align the tops of
pieces and start a seam, backstitching first; then gently sew a 1/4"
seam, by going about an inch at a time and then adjusting the pieces to
fit. Try not to stretch the fabric, she said, but gently guide them
together. As you sew, be sure to never put your finger on the needle
plate - a good way to sew through your finger if you're moving too fast.
Instead, use something small and pointy like a stiletto to maneuver the
fabric near the needle. Finger press the seam open (whichever way it
goes naturally), spritz with water, and then press - don't iron back and
forth. "Let your fabrics decide which way they want to go," she
advised, "but feel free to press it into submission."
Laura
demonstrated her preferred methods for the Drunkard's Path block. She
advised making your own curved piecing templates, and said Accucutter
offers dies for perfect cutting. (If you're making your own templates
and they fit perfectly together, use caution - there should actually be
some overlap to account for a seam allowance on each piece.) If you're
cutting your fabric with a rotary cutter, use the smallest possible
blade for greater accuracy.
Sara
offered a variety of techniques for our consideration. She advises
first that folks make sure their 1/4" is correct; if not, use a ruler to
see where your needle should be, and if your machine allows, shift your
needle left or right. She advised that a scant 1/4" (just a thread or
two less than 1/4") is ideal. When sewing curves, she sews in the
"needle down" position so she can pause over and over to adjust. She
keeps a sharp pointy thing for maneuvering her fabric through the
machine (she's one of our sewists who has sewn through a finger) and said she was using a sandwich stick from the dollar store - no need for another expensive tool!
In
one demo, she sewed clam shells, and advised we keep the convex curve
shape on top, the convex shape on bottom. Be gentle as you sew curves,
she said, not pulling or stretching the fabric. When she's sewing
curves, she goes about 1/4 to 1/2 inch at a time and adjusting as she
goes. When she's pressing, she uses steam (others don't) - proving once
again that there's not just one way to do a thing.
Thanks
to our four teachers, we had an incredible meeting! Check them out on
Instagram (their names are links) to see what new gorgeous curved things
they create.
Announcements
We
have meetings scheduled through March 2020, and are quickly booking up
the rest of 2020. Mark your calendars for these upcoming events:
November 17, 2:00-5:00, Rush Oak Park Hospital
Zipper demos
Learn tips and tricks about zippers from some of our guild’s most experienced zipper-ers!
December 15, 2019, 2:00-5:00, Rush Oak Park Hospital
Holiday Potluck and Swap
Bring a dish to share and a small sewn item for a blind swap! Make sure your small sewn item
does not take more than two hours to make, and for extra fun, include Hawaiian applique,
curved piecing, or zippers, all of which we will be learning about at this fall’s meetings.
January 19, 2020, 2:00-5:00, Rush Oak Park Hospital
Member Trunk Show
A guild favorite! Learn about the quilting journeys of five of your fellow Chicago MQG members.
February 15, 2020
Workshop with Shruti Dandekar! Details and location to be announced.
Registration will open Monday, December 16 at 7pm
February 16, 2020, 2:00-5:00, Rush Oak Park Hospital
Lecture and Trunk Show by Shruti Dandekar
You won’t want to miss this! Our guild is fortunate to have Indian quilter Shruti Dandekar visit
for a workshop and lecture before she heads to QuiltCon.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Save the date! The Chicago MQG’s 10th anniversary party will be held at Pilgrim Church in Oak
Park. Stay tuned, much more will be announced at the November meeting!
Charity Happenings:
Sarah Shulman has submitted our quilts to Project Night Night, more than 70 in all. Hooray! Thanks, Sarah!
The
QuiltCon charity quilt is going great; all blocks are due to Jenni
Grover by November 17. If you have questions or concerns, email her: [email protected] or Laura Hartrich: [email protected].
Our
guild now has a wholesale account for purchasing
Warm and Natural batting for any charity projects. If you're interested,
reach out to Jenni Grover, who will help coordinate your purchase.
Community Happenings:
We
enjoyed two interview-and-introduce a quilter sessions. First, Natalie
Holz and Sarah Evans shared that they have much in common, including old
friends and same-age kiddos. Then Donna Moscinski and Lauren Krause
shared some hilarious and thoughtful observations. We also had a quilt
show-and-tell from one of the guild's quilting pods. If you'd like to
participate in a quilting pod or introduce us to a fellow guild member,
reach out to Laura Hartrich: [email protected].
This month's meeting is on November 17.
Meeting location:
Rush Oak Park Hospital
Centennial Room
520 S. Maple Ave Oak Park, Il 60304
A list of our meetings can be found here.
Not a member, but would like to be? Click the button below to join our Guild!
We hope to see you there!
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