i bought a curvemaster at a show not long ago. i have been having trouble with it. or it has been having trouble with me.

when i use it, it works right on the bottom layer but the top layer veers off
so that i end up with a huge seam allowance or none.

is anyone having this problem? i'd like to make it work. or vice-versa.
i think i should be concentrating on the bottom layer right? keeping it against the gauge? what should i be doing with the top layer? i thought it would be taking care of itself. i lift and hold gently. no? should i be steering it?

I bought one a few months ago. i did some practive blocks & had no problems. When I tried with my new material, I had problems! It seemed to waste a lot of material & I could not get my pieces even. I gave up & have not tried again. It definitely has a learning curve, and I was so upset about my material I have not wanted to try again. It was not as easy for me as advertized!!
Sandy

i guess i have to try it again. thanks for the input.

I dont know what a curvemaster is? Would you mnd telling me?

Margie

it's a specialty foot made especially for sewing curved pieces (i.e. drunkard's path) to one another. by holding the fabric correctly, the foot does the work of gathering in the convex layer to fit the concave layer without using pins or having to snip.

thank you, sounds wonderful...guess like everything takes practice. I would like to see one.

Margie

they are usually demonstrated at shows, and can be purchased at nancy's notions so you can see a picture there.

I bought one a few years back at the Houston quilt show and I hate to admit it, but I haven't even opened it yet! The demonstration sure looked easy didn't it?

sure did! i even got to try it out under her direction. but she's not here now. :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

I know I'm getting old and my mind is going, but when I saw the title of this thread, I thought "Is this a new name for the Thighmaster? Is somebody trying to sell those again?!" LOL :oops: :roll:

Julie when I first looked at it for a second, that was my thought too. I went to Nancy's notions and curvemaster on sale....thinking about getting one...but the thigh master would do me more good lol

Margie

Wonder if you could use the thighmaster while sewing with the curvemaster...OMG I would be ready for playboy shoot ROFL NOT

at this point maybe i'd have more luck using the curvemaster trying to get my thighs to fit than i'm having trying to get the pieces to fit. LOL!

I have one and I really like it. Have watched the tutorial? You can see the video at the link below.
You can't practice sewing a straight line you have to practice sewing curves. http://www.quilterstv.com/

just tried that website and it isn't there anymore. sometimes they change out their tutes.

thanks.

It's also on You Tube. :-)

You still have to snip after you've sewn the pieces together. I have one of these and could never get it to work. I'm trying to sell mine if anybody is interested.

The SatinEdge foot sews curves. I think the Curvemaster was adapted from the SatinEdge foot.

BB,
i looked for it on youtube and couldn't find it. what did you look it up under?
i saw other methods that work the same way though, and i think i could have saved some money.

auntluc, I think your link is an exact description of how it should be done.....but the doing of it, isn't always as easy as it sounds, is it?

Satin Edge foot? What is that one, dont think I ever heard of it before...might it have another name???

Margie

i thought i was doing it that way. as i said originally, i tried it out at the show before i bought it. with the demonstrater standing right there, it worked just fine, hah! :evil:

once i got home.....no deal! of course that lady isn't here now to help me out.

also, on youtube when i was looking for this, i saw other ways to do it and they show the method without the special foot. i'm sorry i didn't see that first.

they do also show the satin edge foot and that seems to work the same way, but without the raised edge guide.

I also had the Curvemaster foot for a long time and did not like the results. When I had the opportunity, I took a class from Sandra Chandler and "got the hang of it". I completed a dresden plate (25 blocks) in 3 weeks. I was very happy with it!. The trick is to use tweezers!!!

is there a seam extension on every one of those curves? or is it applique?
in other words, is every petal curemastered onto it's own little wedge and then they're all pieced together?

Yes butterflywing, everything is seamed...no applique and you have the right idea. Imagine a line exteding from each petal. That is the shapes that are seamed together. I bought templates to cut each "section" when I took the class. When I started it took over an hr to piece each block, minus the center circle. I got into a "rhythm" and was able to do one block in 45 minutes, minus the center circle. I pieced those all in last.

This photo is a little better to see the seam.

wow! you sure did get the hang of it. there is a show coming here. it's too late for signup, but i'll keep my machine in the car in case there's a drop-out. maybe they will offer that class.

also, i forgot in my excitement to tell you what great stippling you do.

is that your work? how imaginative! are there instructions for it anywhere?

i also pinned and sewed without problems, but i thought the curve master would be faster. HAH!

Yes, it's my work. I got the idea and instructions from the book "Confetti Quilts" by Mary Mashuta. It is very inspiring. I'm still interested in the curvemaster though. Where can I get it?

i bought mine at a show, but you can get it from the Nancy Zieman (sp?) catalog. there is also a website. let me look for it.

i'm back. this will show how it gets used (but not by me).


http://www.justcurves.biz/special_instructions.pdf

i hope that works.

just tested the link and it's good to go.

I bought mine here:

http://jhittlesewing.funoverload.com/sewing/catalog.php

It had the lowest price but if you think you will return it, don't buy it there because the site has a high re stocking fee.

it was cheaper at the show and she gave personal instructions. a very short one, but one. you could return and i got a free tweezer. i paid $25.

I too have seen the demonstration but I ask myself, why do you need it? I have no trouble with curved seams, at least for a double wedding ring pattern or 8 inch circles. I usually pin the middle and each end, then one pin midpoint between the middle and end. I usually but the curve that needs to stretch the most on the bottom. Then slowly proceed. I hope this will be less frustrating than using the fancy foot.

that's about the way i always did it, and the way i will probably end up doing it again.

i bought it thinking it would really speed things up and let me chain the curves (after all, the demonstrator did it!) and, in fact, before i bought it, i used it at the booth and it was very, very easy. of course, she was there giving me personalized instructions the whole time.

now that i own it, i don't want it to beat me!!! :evil: :evil:

Thank you. The Curvemaster does not come here every time (Denver), but does come often. Usually it is just a demo at her vendor space. This was the first time that she actually gave a class. Or at least, it is the first time I was aware of it. If she is not giving a class just ask her to let you sit down at her machine and have her "show" you until you get it. She's real nice.

it wasn't a real class. she just let me drive it around for a while under her watchful eye. she was petrified that i would sew myself to the table and sue her.

but i did get the feeling of it and thought WOW! how fast and easy.

i'm sure that if i commit enough unbroken time to practice, i would get it. but who can get that kind of time?

I stood behind her so I could see (in the proper position) what she was doing, then I sat in her chair and had her watch me and tell me what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. When I got home I completed my "test" block to ingrain it in my memory....now I hope I will remember what I did next time I use it...haha...who knows when that will be.

i remember how to do it. the curvemaster foot forgot.

Iwent to quilters tv link that was posted on this thread and found the demo. you have to look in upper right hand corner and go through the list until you find the right one.

Margie

margie,

have you tried it? try it. you'll discover that it hates you. and it will turn blue and stamp it's feet before it ever works for you again.