What is the best way to sew curved pieces in a quilt?

Question

I've never tried it but would like to. Not sure the best way to make it come out right.

Answer 1

Curved piecing requires patience, but no particular skill. There are several ways you can do it. The most basic is to take your two pieces and put the convex (curing to the outside) piece on the bottom. Put the concave (curving to the inside) on top, lining up at the middle (sometimes it helps to mark the center point on both). Pin at the center. Find the halfway point for each side, and gently pull the fabric to meet at that point, and pin again. Pin at the beginning and ending points. Pin between each of the pins. Pin pin pin pin pin.

Always sew with the flat, undistorted piece on the bottom, and the squinched up piece on top, so you can see what is happening. VERY SLOWLY, start sewing, using your fingers or a stiletto to ease the fabric under the foot, keeping it flat. Sew all the way around, and when you're finished, press it flat. I've seen experienced curved piecers sew the pieces together without pinning anything, just working the fabric under the foot with a stiletto. I'm not quite up to that yet. There is also a special curved piecing foot that you can buy that helps guide the fabric.

If that's too much stress, you can try paper piecing curves. Check out a book by Jodie Davis called "Paper Pieced Curves" - she's developed a method to sew curves without all the fuss. Instead of two flat pieces of fabric, you end up with deliberate pleats in the curved piece. It's a cool idea - I took a one hour class with her at a quilt show and she demonstrated it. If you've never paper pieced, try her book "10-20-30 Minutes to Learn Paper Piecing." It's a good beginner book, and it includes instructions on curved paper piecing. Also check out the last link for step by step instructions with photos of her method.