I am making a mock cathedral window quilt. I don't know what I am doing wrong but all my circles seem to want to curl up after I sew them. My tension looks good. I don't know how to fix the problem. I tried a longer stitch and I tried a shorter stitch. Heck I even went and bought a walking foot. That made it worse, everything looked gathered using that foot. I am sure someone can lead me in the right direction to fix this. I was extra careful to make sure my circles are all the same size. ummm and thanks for any help you can give me. Deb

Do they press out flat though? I'm going to watch this thread. I don't know what to tell you, since I've never made that pattern.

Same here! You've made me curious!

I'll be watching this also, are you able to increase or decrease the pressure on the foot, at times will have things sew better when I make that adjustment.

I don't understand what you mean by "curl up." You're supposed to sew down the arcs of the circles to the front anyway so I'm not sure why curl would affect that.

Is this a raggy circle quilt or the method where you sew 2 circles, right sides together,cut a slit in the "front" one and turn right side out? A picture would help.

I just finished a baby size, denim & corduroy faux CW and I had previously done a large throw size all denim raggy faux CW. When I sewed the circles together, they do tend to curl inward but it just makes it easier to sew the arcs down for me.

The method with the two circles. sounds like I don't need to be to concerned about it, so I will just carry on. Curling inward like yours did.

wild guess here.

it might be the bulk of the batting within the seam allowance.

after you sew the circles, and before you turn them right side out, trim away the excess batting. trim as close as possible to the stitching.

if you continue to have the problem, show us pics so we can see what is happening, can't quite envision the curling- since on my cathedral windows the curves are sewn down along their edge- there's nothing to curl-
but you said a 'mock=cathedral?' what makes it 'mock' and not actual? guess i just need to see what is happening here- sorry

I didn't use the 2 circle method. I made one as a test & didn't care for how lumpy they looked and all the extra fabric in the seam allowance didn't look good to me. I was too lazy to trim & clip it--that probably would have helped--and I was using denim & flannel so it was going to be bulky no matter what I did.

Mock or Faux means it isn't done with the traditional method of folding hundreds (or even thousands) of muslin squares and tacking the "curtains" over the "windows". My aunt made one entirely by hand, queen size. It took 2 years and the person she made it for paid $2,000. McDonald's pays much better!

Back to the original problem of your circles curling. What type of fabric are you using? Is it the same front & back or is one much thinner than the other? Did you trim and/or clip the seam allowances before you turned them right side out? Since you will be sewing down the arcs anyway, the curling may not matter. Make 4 of them and loosely stitch them together then tack down the 4 arcs in the center. Does it look ok? If so, continue on. You will love it!

Back to the Faux or Mock question. While I was making my last one, it crossed my mind that the method could also be called Faux Orange Peel or Faux Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.