Beginner's Guide To Turned Edge Circles [Applique Tute]

Let's put our hands together for raw edge applique - I love it, absolutely love it - but now and again, a project calls for turned edge applique.  Urrrgh.  Did I hear someone groan?  It might actually have been me, but to be fair, turned edge applique really isn't that bad.  

My latest project didn't need any applique at all, then at the last moment, I had a bit of a funny turn and thought to add a fussy cut turned edge circle to the centre of my piece would bring something special to the finish.

Making the circle reminded me just how easy turned edge applique is, so I thought I'd share my method with you.  It's nothing original, and the technique doesn't belong to me or to anyone else either! It's just the way it's done and has been for a very long time - so here it is:

Beginner's Guide To Turned Edge Circles

Raw Edge Circle Appliqué Quilt

Always wanted to master applique?
Raw Edge applique is one quick and easy method and a great introduction to this technique that I'll be teaching next week in my one day class in Manhattan.

Circle Appliqué Quilt- $70

Saturday, 17 January 2015 - 11.00 am to 5.00 pm, The City Quilter, Manhattan

Learn to cut perfect circles and add them to a whole cloth quilt base using a raw edge applique method, then machine quilt to finish your baby/lap quilt By the end of the afternoon you could even be ready to bind your finished baby/lap quilt.  

Open to anyone who knows how to use a rotary cutter and sewing machine and can sew a straight seam.

Here's pics of my class sample, currently on display in the store.

Fabrics:

Ed Emberley's Picture Pie collection: Alphabet, Foxes and Scribble for Cloud9 Fabrics and Michael Miller's Black & White Clown Stripe.

Tools:

Circle Savvy Ruler by Creative Grids.

NOTE - I'm an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) on any purchase you make following this link.

The class was inspired by my Foxy Circle Quilt donated to charity earlier this year and which had a great response via social media and in store.

If you live in the greater New York area or are making a quick visit to the Big Apple, why not join in one of my classes?

You can find details of all Spring 2015 classes I'm teaching via the 'My Classes' link in the side bar or by clicking the link button below.

An Amy Butler Bed - It's A Dog's Life

Last August I was asked to guest post a tutorial over at Sew Can She, eight months on it's time to share that tutorial with you here just in case you missed it first time round.  Enjoy :D

Hi everyone, I'm Chrissie of made by ChrissieD, having studied Art & Design and Textile Art back home in England I now find myself quilting, sewing and blogging alongside working at The City Quilter in Manhattan and I'm a member of the NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild.

If you've ever read my blog you'll know that much of what I make is influenced by my daughter, Flicky, and today's project is no exception!  I asked Flicky to pick something from the Sew Can She archives that I could adapt for my guest post and she chose the Fleece Dog Bed by Erin of Dog Under My Desk for our very own 'Tatty' dog to snuggle on.

Following Erin's instructions, which are clear and very simple, it's really easy to change the size of the bed to suit your own needs.   I wanted the dog bed to fit inside Tatty's playpen so I made it smaller, only 24" diameter, I also used 100% cotton quilting fabric rather than fleece and jazzed it up a bit by using pieced fabrics. 

To create the piecing I cut two 24" squares from Amy Butler's Alchemy 'Fountain' fabrics in Rosebud and Flora and folded each square into quarters ...

... and then in half to form a triangle - I ironed the fabric at this stage so the fold lines would be very obvious when it's opened out as a circle later.

From the centre point of the folded fabric I measured out 12" and repeated this in several places until I could join the marks in a smooth arc drawn on the fabric (I think you can just about see the pale blue water erasable arc line from the ruler edge to the opposite corner top of the fabric).  Keeping the fabric folded I cut along the arc line from edge to edge.

 Once the fabric is unfolded it's a circle and you can see all those fold lines on it.  Next, I cut along each of the fold lines to create the triangular sections to piece the dog bed top and bottom circles.

 Here're the cut sections - and then I did the same with the second piece of fabric.

Having laid the fabrics out in an alternating colourway I then sewed the triangles together using a 1/4" seam as above - I'd recommend that you do a double row of stitching to make the seams more durable - my dog's a digger, she just has to get to the stuffing in anything and one row of stitching isn't going to hold her back for long!

I made the circles up as two half circles and then sewed them together down the centre seam - the points joined more easily this way than by just working around the full circle.  

I repeated with the remaining pieces to make up the top and bottom circles of the dog bed.

 I didn't want the bed to be as high as the 9" in Erin's pattern so I cut out 6" x 3" sections of the alternating fabrics and sewed them together into a long strip and then I appliqued my dog's name (Tatty and Thatcher) on the side of the bed. 

Here I've attached the side panel to the top of the bed.

Erin was right, 2 pillows $7.00 from Target was the correct amount of stuffing and the bed's absolutely the perfect finished size for Tatty's playpen.

What I learnt:

• Thinking that the bed would sag outwards once made (as in Erin's photos of her bed made with fleece) I wanted the letters to still be fully visible so I cut them quite small - 1.5" tall.  This didn't turn out to be the case - using 100% quilting cotton instead of fleece and reducing the height of the bed from 9" to 6" kept the sides of the bed pretty firm and upright - so I could have made the letters much taller.
• The solid fabrics that I used to applique Tatty's name on the bed might have been the perfect colours to work alongside the Amy Butler prints in a quilt but they just weren't contrasting enough to be visible against such a busy print when used as an applique. Even appliquing the letters with white thread didn't make them obvious enough. Using one stronger solid colour or white fabric would have worked much better.

And the final verdict from Tatty - she absolutely loves her new bed and has been seen dragging it around the apartment with her - even out on to our 23rd-floor balcony! 

Much to Tatty's disgust my daughter, Flicky, has also been seen sitting on the bed - using it as a large floor cushion - she says it's the comfiest thing she's ever sat on.  So that got me thinking that there's lots of other uses for this pattern, not just as a dog bed but how about as a back cushion when reading in bed or go large and make floor cushions for a child's playroom, TV room or den? Just modify the fabric and size to change the look.

Tatty gives the bed her seal of approval - what do you think of it?

If you'd like to find out more about me and my work you can find me in the following places

Blog * Bloglovin * Facebook * Pinterest * Instagram * Flickr * Twitter * Ravelry * Website

Hope to catch up with you all soon :)

Updated on Friday, 6 June 2014

And check out this Aurifil feature along with a tweet from Amy Butler Design :D

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This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

Heard The One About Me, The Glasgow Girls Club And The Timorous Beasties Quilt?

Last Tuesday around 6.15 pm I answered the phone at the Manhattan quilt store where I work to a woman with a Scottish accent.  She told me she had a quilt that needed finishing for an auction to be held in Manhattan on Tuesday, 8 April.  She continued speaking about the organisation she's involved with and asked if I knew anyone who could help her ... I heard my voice saying "I'll do it for you, how soon can you get it to me?"

How does that happen?  When a voice comes out of your mouth without you knowing anything about it!  I do remember thinking that this was meant to be especially as it was a New York/Scotland thing and of course, I'm in New York and my daughter, Flicky, is in Scotland so with an immediate connection, instinct just sort of took over.

By 6.45 pm the woman was standing in front of me at the store and this is probably a good point in the story to introduce her to you properly ... Amy, Amy Rew to give her her full name, and she is Global Lower Eastside Girls Club ambassador and founder of their partner group The Glasgow Girls Club.  The aim of these two groups is to:

provide a place where girls and young women 8-23 can grow, learn, have fun and develop confidence in themselves and their ability to make a difference in the world.  By delivering strong arts, literacy, science, health and leadership programs they provide girls with the vision to plan - and the tools to build - their future. Raising the next generation of environmental, entrepreneurial and ethical leaders.

Amy brought with her the blocks sewn by the girls at the Glasgow Girls Club back in March along with some incredible fabric donated by Timorous Beasties - Thistle Linen.  

Here's a pic from GGC's fb page of the girls with their finished blocks, you can see more photos of the quilting day here on facebook.

So for the last 7 days, I've worked into the night to turn these

 

into this

and adding a pieced backing and binding made from Robert Kaufman Essex Linen Ivory and Benartex Caryl Bryer Fallert - Essential Gradations Earthy Hues Earthy Spectrum so the back looks like this.

And here's where you can find the finished quilt for tonight only

then hopefully it'll be going to its new home and will have raised lots of money for the girls.

I  have so many more photos to share - firstly close up detail of the sections of the quilt incorporating the girls' blocks.  I'm hoping the girls get to see these and are incredibly proud of their part in making the quilt and can spot their own blocks here.

I've kept the pieces exactly as they were made by the girls - I've just added free motion lines around the raw edge appliques to hold them in place.

 

I've quilted either side of the ditch to support and strengthen the seams.

 This block had pencilled faces on the circles - I've traced over the faces with an archival pen so they're a permanent feature of the quilt now.

I love these crystals sewn on the thistle spikes - can you see them, it's tricky against the white background?

Here's some detail of my quilting - I've free motion quilted along the stems of the thistle leaves and outside the main thistle image - all stitching is in white so it doesn't detract from the girls' work (unfortunately that makes it difficult for you to see!).

You can see the thistle quilting better on the back of the quilt.

As always I've added my label

and another label to document the quilt's history as I fully support the Quilt Alliance's SOS (Save Our Stories) programme.

Finally, I've hand sewn the bindings.

Here's some rolled and draped shots

And some final full shots

 So now you heard all about it, me, the Glasgow Girls Club and the Timorous Beasties Quilt, do you love it as much as I do?  It's funny that I'm not having difficulty giving this one away - all the time I was working on it I knew it wasn't mine and it's going to such a good cause it's given me quite a different perspective on the quilt.  I'm excited to see how much money it raises.

If you can spare 1 min 24 seconds then check out this short trailer for the Club, you can see Amy with her fabulous pink bag and also images from the quilting session at the Club.  Maybe you or someone you know would like to get involved too either in New York or in Glasgow?  Please spread the word.

Have you ever answered the phone to something completely unexpected that changes the course of your week, year, life?  When these moments come we should just grab them, I did :D

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For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my sidebar :D

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.