I made 4 more blocks as part of the Rainbow Improv project last weekend and then paused to do more design wall arranging and thinking. It’s starting to come together, and what it really needed was a center block to pull it all together. Great news: I found the *perfect* print in my stash for the center block. The trick now is to figure out how to use that print with the finished exposed seams / turn and straight stitch seam technique, because this quilt is all about pushing boundaries and learning what I can do with this new technique. So today I want to talk about the rabbit hole I fell into and the test blocks I’ve made.
Test Block 1
Above is my first test block and it is… well, a great first test block! It did not turn out well in several different ways, and I learned a lot by making it. The test blocks I will be sharing today all have one goal: trying to figure out if I can make an inset circle that finishes at 9″ in diameter using the finished exposed seams technique. The things I learned from this first test block are:
- When the background fabric is stiff (near straight of grain and the other finished exposed seams), the fabric does not give much and is very hard to manipulate with the larger seam allowance and cut curve size discrepancy making consistent seam allowance really, really difficult while sewing the first seam.
- Turning the background fabric outward and stitching it down with a topstitch super distorted the block because the background fabric was/is not able to stretch enough.
- The block was so three dimensional after stitching down the background fabric I did not even attempt to finish the inset circle raw edge fabric with a finished / turn and straight stitch seam.
Test Block 2
After drawing my conclusions from the first test block, I knew the next test block would feature a single background fabric. It, too, had lessons to teach me, namely:
- As previously noted, when the background fabric is near straight of grain (at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions of the photo above), it does not give much and it is hard to keep the raw edges of the fabrics aligned while sewing the inset circle. This leads to less consistent seam allowances and the background fabric tucking/puckering. Note: The largest circle seam is the seam that sewed the fabrics together.
- For this block, I folded the raw edges of the fabric together and in toward the center (lime green) fabric. This resulted in a LOT of fabric bulk which was hard to keep consistently folded under ¼”.
Test Block 3
I made 3 changes when I sewed the third test block:
- I used a larger piece background fabric, which I hoped would give me the ability to manipulate the fabric around the straight of grain areas a bit more.
- Before finishing the raw edges with the turn and straight stitch technique, I trimmed the inset circle fabric back to have a very scant seam allowance to reduce the bulk.
- For test blocks 1 and 2, I used 8 pins. For the third test block, I pinned the fabric together with 16 pins to help keep the raw edges of the fabric aligned better.
Test Block 3 Details
Above is a zoomed in photograph of the seams of test block 3. Remember that the outer, larger seam is the seam that joins the fabrics together. Looking at the detailed photo, you can see areas where the seam allowance varies, leading to tucks and puckers in the background fabric.
The third test block is much better, and I think at this point I just need to practice more and probably sew slower on the first seam to achieve a consistent seam allowance. I would love to actually perfect this by using a larger inset circle, which has gentler curves, but the truth is this is the size I need for the quilt, so I’m going to keep working on this size. I guess I know what I’ll be sewing this weekend!
Grading the seam was a smart solution to the bulk problem. This is an interesting technique, but looks time consuming!
I feel like you are an Olympic gymnast and there are levels of difficulty for the uneven bars – aka sewing a circle. Difficulty points of 1 of 5 for make it from four drunkards path and sew them together. Maybe difficulty 5 of 5 for an inset circle. You, my friend, are at difficulty level 11. :-)
Thanks for sharing your process as you work through this. You are very close (I would’ve given up already – ha). I’ve used the 6-minute circle tute with good results – that might create an interesting exposed seam too?
Thanks for sharing your test blocks. It does seem important that you are able to make circles in a variety of sizes, so I hope your continued tests go well!
You are amazing, Yvonne! I love how your mind works and seeing/reading about your test blocks and lessons learned. Curves are certainly interesting, and this process in particular. Have fun with your weekend stitching. It’s so hard to slow sewing down sometimes…at least for me!
It’s both fun and frustrating to work on solutions to a stitching problem. Fingers crossed you’ve got the right one and that practice is the missing piece.
People often tell me that I am so patient to be able to do the quilting projects I do, but you take patience a new level! I appreciate you sharing the intricate process.
Like being in a quilt lab, reading your posts and following along. Experiments, galore! So many successes, but a few I’ll Learn from This outcomes. You always have much to teach us — loving that last color combo, too!
You always do such a thorough analysis, so very helpful for all us when we decide to fall into the rabbit hole!