Part 5: Freehand curves
with JULIUS ARTHUR
Lesson 19 of 27
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Freehand curves are a great way to make your quilt feel more relaxed and give them a handmade charming quality. Learn how simple it is to make a freehand curve for your next patchwork quilt with Julius.
From the Lesson Workbook
Freehand Curves
In this lesson you will need:
- Quilt top
- Masking tape
- Quilter's pins
- Thread
- No 8 Cotton Pearl thread
- Sewing machine
- Iron
- Pressing mat
- Rotary cutter
- Scissors
- Tailor's chalk
Instructions
- Layer two fabrics of similar sizes on a cutting mat. Make sure the right sides are facing upwards.
- Grab your rotary cutter and draw with it across your fabric, creating a gentle curved line.
- Separate out all the fabric pieces and place the pieces of fabric with right sides together and align the curved edges.
- Flip the fabric on the left over to the right, so the two right sides are together. Then flip it again.
- Take the two pieces of fabric to the sewing machine, making sure the edges of your two cut pieces are lined up.
- Sew the two pieces together with a 1 cm (⅞ in) seam allowance. Slowly pivot both pieces of fabric, so the edges are meeting as you sew.
- Stitch all the way through. Lift out the fabric and take your pieces off.
- Right sides facing, pin the two fabrics together and line up the notches.
- Grab your iron and press the curves the way they naturally like to fall. Then reverse the fabric, pressing the other side.
- Repeat the previous stages with another piece of fabric. Keep adding more pieces with curved seams to create the block size you want. When all the pieces are joined together, trim the edges of the block to the required size.
Tip: if you don't want to create a positive and negative version, you can overlay your two pieces of fabric. I overlay them 4–5 cm (1½–2 in). Take your rotary cutter and slice through those two sections. Once you've removed the excess, you can join them on the sewing machine in the same way.
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Your Instructor
Julius Arthur
British textile artist specialising in handmade quilts and unique textile objects for the home.
Julius Arthur is a textiles designer specialising in quilts and unique objects for the home. His design practice, House of Quinn, creates small-batch homeware using traditional and age-old craft techniques and practices to cultivate contemporary design narratives onto familiar objects. His work is grounded in uncomplicated - often repurposed - materials and inspired by an abstract view of the places and things around us. Growing up in Cornwall, memories of childhood and a sense of home and belonging intersect in Julius' work. Quilts have become a staple motif in Julius' work - a way of combining materials, connecting through stitch and exploring shape, form and line - and the subject of his book Modern Quilting.
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