I took a class in Nashville from Scott Murkin. He was a wonderful teacher and made the class a lot of fun. His quilting motto is, "If you're not having fun then you're doing something wrong."

He taught us the Making Waves pattern that he designed. It uses large print fabrics that we all love but then can't seem to find a way to use. I picked florals of course. But throughout the class I saw geometric fabric, funny print fabric, and even some Christmas fabric.

This pattern is extremely easy and I thought it might be fun to start a Quilt-A-Long of this pattern.

Yes, I know everyone is extremely busy and we have lots going on but this is an open ended project that has soooooooooooo many possibilities.

Anyway, I'm posting a pic here of the three blocks that I have done so far. I will post pics later of these same three blocks arranged in several different designs.

If anyone is interested in this Quilt-A-Long I will posts Scott's instructions and make an album.

Connie

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I would be interested. It's good to learn new stuff!

I will please all adds to the fun do I need to bring and apple for the teacher..... or is chocolate better
Jaqui

Chocolate is much better. My favorite is fudge.

Ok I'm going to go ahead and post the instructions as that may intice a few more people to join us.

Connie

Connie
I am up for learning a new technique. I love what I seen so far.

Curved piecing can add pizzazz to any project! Free-form curved piecing is done without templates and readily reveals the hand of the artist - no two curves are ever identical. The resulting pieces can be used in patchwork, borders, sashing, applique, and quilted garments.

Traditional curved piecing often requires careful marking of match points, heavy pinning and clipping of curves to ease them in. Free-form curved piecing overcomes these requirements by using a narrower seam allowance than traditional piecing. To ensure a strong seam despite the narrower width, a shorter stitch length is used. So set your machines to about half the stitch length you normally use for piecing.

The pieces must start larger than the finished size you wish to work with, as free-form curved piecing always requires squaring up after piecing. Use fabrics that have enough contrast to show off the curve. Large-scale prints are particularly effective with free-form curves as you can use them in large pieces, preserving the print and letting the curve provide the visual interest.

A 60 or 65 MM rotary cutter is easiest but any size will do it. Use a fresh blade for clean cuts. Use an older cutting mat if you have one as curved cuts do not heal as well as straight cuts. A six inch square ruler is also very helpful but not mandatory.

For our project Scott had us bring 84 - seven inch squares of large print fabric. He suggested at least 25 different patterns but said that was not mandatory either. Then we bought 3 yards of background fabric either lighter or darker than your focus fabrics so your curves will show up well. We cut this into 7 inch squares as well and got a bit over 84 out of it.

Lay two squares on top of each other, one of your focus fabric and one of your background fabric, right sides up. Place them on your mat with one corner facing you. Imagine that there is aline drawn thru the squares from the far corner to the corner closest to you. Hold you rotary cutter perpendicular to your mat and in one smooth cut, gently cut a curve that passes thru that imaginary line cutting into both halves of the fabric. When you start your cut try to cut about 1/2 inch straight out from the corner and try to end the cut coming straight into the corner from about 1/2 inch as well. In between will be the curve to one side and then the other. This 1/2 inch of straight cut is not crucial but is something to shoot for.

Keep your non-cutting hand OFF the cutting surface. The degree of curve is a matter of taste- you want enough curve to make it worth your effort, but deeper curves are harder to sew. A little experiementation will quickly tell you how much curve you can sew without making it no longer enjoyable. Remember if you're not having fun you're not doing it right.

Now you have four pieces of fabric. Pull them apart at the cut and match the top fabric on the left side with the bottom fabric on the right side and vice versa. These matches will make the squares and must be kept together. As we stated earlier no two cuts will be the same and the fabrics will not sew together well if you don't keep them matched with their partners.

Take one pair and turn them right sides together. Match the seam at the top for about an inch and begin sewing an 1/8 inch seam. The fabrics will hang funky and you will think there is no way they are going to match up, but they will. With your left hand control the top fabric and with your right hand control the bottom fabric. Begin stitching the rest of the seam moving the fabric back and forth so the edges match. With this small of a seam it is a good idea to just be able to see the bottom fabric as you stitch to make sure it hasn't gotten out of the seam allowance.

Exact seam width is not important as long as it is narrow enough to avoid clipping, but a smoothly sewn curve is crucial. Notches from correcting too quickly are readily noticeable in the finished project. If you find your seam allowance becoming too wide or too narrow, correct gently and gradually.

Press the seam from the wrong side, making sure to avoid pleats and easing the seam toward the darker fabric. Press from the right side and then you are ready to square up your block. This next process will ensure that your waves match as you sew your blocks together.

With your finished block on your mat lay your six inch square ruler on top of it. Each corner of that ruler will have a dot or a mark of somekind that is 1/4 inch from the corner of the ruler. Match that dot with the seam between the fabrics at the top of the curve and then again at the bottom. Cut two sides off the block. Turn your block to give yourself access to the other two sides and lay your ruler down where the bottom and one side line up with the sides you just cut. Then cut the other two sides off. If you don't have a six inch square ruler or if you want your squares larger then you will need to use a square ruler of some size and put the 1/4 dot on one corner on the seam at one end of the block. Find the dot inside the bottom corner that is directly in line with a 45% angle from the bottom of the ruler and just inside the six inch line. In other words view your larger ruler as if it were only 6 inches. You may want to mark it with tape to make the other cuts easier.

This pattern will make six inch squares, unfinished. If you desire your blocks to be larger or smaller you will need to add 1 1/2 inches to the desired size of your block. In other words a 10 1/2 inch orignal block will yield a 9 inch free-form curved block.

The opportunities for design have just begun as the squares can be placed together in a multitude of ways. I will post a few pics after this post to give you some ideas of the possibilities.

Ok, any questions?

Connie

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nawma,

Yes
I have a question, can I come play at your house lolol
I can't wait to have a go at that
Jacqui

Anytime Jacqui as long as you can stand the barking of 30 little dogs. LOL!

Connie

Here is another design that I have made out of the same 12 blocks I posted in the first photo.

Connie

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and another.....

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