Freestyle Arcs

Due: Our next in-person event, in April

Technique: Improv curved piecing

New to block lotto? Learn about it here

This month's block is improv quarter circle arcs. The blocks you turn in should be 10 x 10 inches (they'll finish at 9.5" when sewn together as a quilt). 

Fabrics and cutting

Background: White or a very low volume fabric that reads as white.

Other fabrics: Two or more bright modern fabrics for the arcs: solids, prints, or a mixture. You can choose the number and size of arcs to add to the block.

The amount of fabric you'll need depends on your style of piecing, but the technique I show below makes a wonky block that needs quite a bit of trimming to square it up, so it's best to aim for a significantly larger size than 10 x 10", then trim it to size at the end.

Steps

There are several ways to create these blocks - feel free to use your favourite technique! For example, if you took the curved piecing workshop with Cheryl, she showed a nifty way to get accurate improv curves without the wonkiness that that you'll notice with the technique I'm showing below. 

When you're assembling the blocks, you can start with the background and work your way in, or start with the inside. Here's a technique that starts with the center:

1. Freehand cut a quarter circle(ish) for one corner of your block.
   

   
   
2. Lay the piece you just cut on top of the next fabric, right sides up. Cut along the outside edge of the quarter circle to cut the inside edge of the arc that you'll be attaching. You can also cut the outer edge of the arc now, or do it after you've sewn these two pieces together.
   
   
   
3. Stitch the two pieces together, right sides together. You can pin the pieces together before stitching, or just match one end of the two pieces, then stitch until the end. It helps to occasionally stop with the needle in the fabric and lift the presser foot to ease the tension and reposition the pieces. 
   
4. When finished, you'll likely have some extra fabric to trim off. At this point, you can move on to adding the background, or add one or more extra arcs.
   
   
   
5. In this example, I've added another arc using the same method.
   
   
   
6. Use the same technique to add the background.
   
    
7. Trim the block to 10"square. 
    

   

   
   

   If you win the blocks, there are several ways to assemble the blocks. You could line them up all facing in the same direction, position them randomly, arrange pairs of them in rows of rainbow shapes, or join for four together to make circles. Have fun!

   

   
   

Additional resources

• Improv Circles tutorial by Leanne from She Can Quilt. The tutorial also includes links to a video and other instructions by Leanne.
• Improv Quarter Circle Photo Tutorial by Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl. 
• Yvonne also has a Curved Piecing: Beyond the Drunkard's Path video on the MQG site (login required).