I don't mean to over share, but I'm hoping a sob story might increase the chances someone will take pity on me and offer up some help.

I'm 34-year-old guy whose husband died in January after 5 years with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was endlessly and uniquely creative and I miss him terribly. One of his ideas near the end of his life involved quilting. He had squares cut out and a concept fully formed before his arms stopped working. Taking care of him by myself, I didn't have the time to learn to sew. I have never sewn a single stitch and I still don't know how to sewn on a button, but I've been sewing non-stop for a week straight. I've finished up both sides of the quilt and its huge…..mammoth…..more than king size.

Now here's the deal, I need apply over one of the sides, a very large perfect circle (or at least as close to as perfect as possible). Probably 4-5 ft in diameter and 8-10 inches thick. How do I sew the cirle and then how do I sew it on top of the existing side? I'm at a loss.

Please help.

Your pal,

John

I understand the part of the circle diameter, but thick???? Do you have a pic of the concept you are trying to create? Have been sewing a long time, only quilting consistently for about 1-1/2, but I would be glad to help in any way I can.

John, I wish I had some idea. I can't even picture this can you send us a photo.

John, I sent you a PM (private message).

The thickness is what is throwing me too.

here's the idea in a super tiny pic. thanks for the responses.

John, where is the thickness coming from, if that makes sense.

So it is not a solid circle, it is open in the center like a ring?

Am I correct...The "thickness" is the width of the band, right?
If that's the case, just cut it out to whatever size you want, lay out the quilt top the floor (since it's very large) and then place the ring wherever you want it. Pin it securely and baste it in place to make sure it stays put. Then, simply stitch it in place with hand applique or machine zig zag. The key is to keep it secure so the edges dont get wonky when you're sewing it in place. I's hand baste it thoroughly. 'Hope this helps!

PS
I'm so sorry for your loss!

OOOOOhhhh! By thick, you mean the circle is like a donut with the center out....Ok, so once you cut the circle out and then the center out of that, you applique it on. That means you sew it on the top of what the quilt top. You could fuse it with steam a seam II and the do a zig-zag stitch around the edge to hold it down. Check out YouTube for some visuals on applique or raw edge applique. Wish I could show you, I am sure you could do it. Good luck. If there is anything else I can do I will try.

John, Wow do I feel like an idiot. I should have started by telling you how sorry I am for you loss. I hope working on his dream is helping you with your the loss of your husband. I can't imagine and what a wonderful thing to do for him. {{Hugs}}

one very important thing i stupidly left out. the circle needs to be made out of several different blue fabrics. So, i have to build that too and don't know how to cut out shapes to make a circle.

kind of a key point to leave out, no?

i'm an idiot sometimes.

Hi John, I'm sorry for you loss. What a loving tribute you're doing, in finishing his quilt idea!

I don't understand why you're needing it so thick either. Oh - are you talking about 'width'?

But to sew it onto the quilt, just iron the edges of your circle under about 1/4 of an inch or so, and pin it onto your quilt top, making sure it's lying good and flat, and sew it on. Make sure you have it pinned very good, due to it's large size.

If this doesn't help at all, keep asking, I'm sure someone on here will be able to explain better!
:) :)

Ok, I have heard of this method for drawing a really large circle, I am attaching the link. I would practice on a large piece of paper first. you can take two pencils attach a string to each pencil. Someone will have to hold it down in the middle of the circle and then go out as far as you want the size of the circle to be and pivot around the person holding the other end of the string. Here is the link, may make more sense.http://www.ehow.com/how_2239326_draw-circle-string.html

To make the circle, get a large paper table cloth and spread it out on the floor. Get a pencil and attach it to a long string (1/2 the desired diameter of the circle - the radius, I guess). then anchor it to a spot in the center of the paper, stretch out and keeping the center in place, draw with the pencil. Kind of like the compasses we used in school to draw circles for geometry. It is like when a dog is on a rope anchored in the grounds and can only go in circles. lol
Once you have the paper circle, you can cut sections...you would have to add 1/4 inch to each side of the piece of circle (arc) for the seam allowance to stitch the different colors together. Hope this all makes sense.

Sorry for your loss, I am sure you have a lot of wonderful memories for the time you spent together before his illness, rejoice in them!

Hey nursie76, we are on the same wave length.http://www.ehow.com/how_2239326_draw-circle-string.html :lol:

:thumbup:

perfect. thank you. i was starting to do all this crazy math stuff with scaling shapes up and down....it was very complicated. this makes infinitely more sense. I'll let you know how it turns out.

in mid-april, several of our closest friends are coming to spend a few days with me. we're going to have a little bee and do the actual quilting. we'll be using it as a backdrop for all of numbers his friends will be singing/performing at his memorial in may.

thank you

john

John, please do let us know how it turns out.

And if you have trouble using a string to draw the circle, try using a yard stick, figure out someway to attach one end to the center of the circle and attach the pencil out on the yardstick as far are you want to go out. Might be more stable than a string. Just another idea.

John, I am so sorry for your loss. I hope the quilt that you are finishing gives you great comfort.

So Sorry for your loss, and glad that others were able to help
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Please keep us posted on your progress and post pics when you are done with the quilt ! Would love to see it :wink:

Keep working on this, it's obviously important to you. You can do this, the people here who know how are glad to help. Take it one step at a time and if you get lost just ask.
Sorry for your loss.

Welcome John. So sorry for your loss. You could use a dinner plate to trace your outside ring and a salad plate (or bowl) for the "thickness" of the ring.

Cut it out carefully.

Very sorry for your loss. :cry:

If I understand correctly, you want a circle that has different blue fabrics in it.

Are you willing to try a technique? There' a link for paper piecing on the main page. I would first draw out my circle and then you need to determine what size you want each different fabric to be or by the number of different blues you have. You could draw the lines onto the paper circle. Then you sew the fabric to the paper and when its done peel off the paper and you have your blue multi-colored circle to sew to your top.

Hope this helps! If I confused you PM me and I'll try to explain myself better.

I forgot about the circle!!!! :oops: At the stores they have rolls of paper that kids use. I would cut to the desired say height (5'). Then if you remember as a kid, we would fold in 1/2, then in 1/2 again, and so on till to reached a size that would be workable. Then put your curve on with pencil and then say go down about 10" and place the other curve. Cut along lines and you should have your donut.

I am so sorry for your loss John. I think you are doing a really great thing finishing this quilt.

Sybil

It's easier to fold the paper in forths and put the center where the folds meet. That way you only have to draw a quarter of a circle. Then with the paper still folded you can cut out the entire circle. Since I hate cutting that's the kind of short cut I take.

Bless you for taking the time to do this.

I would use the string and circle method to make a template on cardboard, since you are going such a large scale. (If it were smaller, I'd suggest freezer paper) I would wrap the fabric around the cardboard template and starch the thing til it holds its shape before pinning to the quilt. You will need to clip some places to ease it around the arc.

I almost think spray basting glue would work better at that point, if the blue line in your picture is thick enough.

Good luck with it. It sounds striking.

Im sorry for your loss. loss is a great motivator. you find you are capable of things you didnt know you had in you.

I hope I can help you with your quilting question
ok! use the string idea to draw your circle, I use newspaper taped together, and a big marker. its super cheap! then you can draw how big you want your smaller pieces to be. dont cut up your circle, you want it for referance later. get printer paper and trace each section and number so they dont get mixed up, then add your seam allowance on to each piece. when your fabric pieces are all sewn together you can use your newspaper circle to compare the fabric circle and do any trimming or resewing that is needed.
Good luck!

John,
I am sorry to hear of your loss. I lost my husband of 33+ years last Aug after 15 years with Common Variable Immune deficeincy- also an autoimmune disease. It is very hard to lose the person you love. I hope working on this will help.
I would use basting spray to put the circle on your quilt top then use a tight zigzag. I recommend practicing with a smaller circle on scrap fabric.
Wishing you peace from your memories.
Jo Ann

John: I'm not much help I started quilting last june. But I am so sorry for your loss. I do have alot of knowledge of sewing smarts, as I have been making clothes for many years for my children and grand children. If I can anwer any questions I'm happy to help you. Again don't hesatate to ask , we are all here. :) :) :)

John,
So sorry for your loss, and welcome to the wonderful world of quilting!!!
Now that we understand what you are after, (basically, a large Letter O or Zero ) it sounds like you've been given all sorts of great advice!!!

Good luck with it, and continue to pester us for more help...and don't forget, PHOTOS are required when you are done!!
Good luck!

Very good visual!! :D :D

John, I'm sorry for your loss. I hope working on this quilt helps you work through your grief.

As you can tell, we love to help people with their quilting projects. Everyone else has said what I might have. Hope you will share pictures when you are done.

John - depending on where you live I bet a quilter would love to help you out with this project - If you lived near me you could come over and I would help out. You might have already had a lot of offers... Crafty folk have big hearts ;)

If you go the paper route - contact a local newspaper and ask if they give the paper "stubs" away - it's the end bit left on their monster rolls that they usually give away for free - it's newspaper so it would tear nicely and really wide so you'd be able to piece together the size you need super fast.

John, I was wondering the same thing. I would be glad to help, if you are anywhere close.

Hello John,

My sincere condolences in the loss of your husband.

I make round table cloths, using the following method, that would also work very well for your circle. It is fast, easy, accurate, and very cheap!

Tape together some newspapers (any paper will work) to get an area large enough for the circle needed (you said 4'-5') Trim the paper to a square the size you need (in this case, you might make the square between 5.25 and 6 feet, being a bit larger than the finished circle. You also don't have to be exact with the edges, you just have to be sure that once it is folded, from the center to the edge, you have enough space (this being half the diameter of the circle) to draw the sized arc needed. The most important area being the exact center.

NOTE: You can do this with fabric too! Either seam two pieces and cut into a square, or purchase wide broadcloth or quilt backing, and do the same. One piece of fabric and you will be done!

Find the exact center of the paper or fabric and mark it (stick a pin in it or punch a small hole). Now fold the paper in half length wise (top to bottom) and then widthwise (side to side)being sure to make the folds go through the center in both directions, matching your edges, resulting in a square, four layers deep, with your exact center being in one corner.

Using something flat that you can stick a pin into (I used to use a large piece of cardboard), tape this down to a table, sometimes I would use a long pin that I would stick between the leaves of my dining table to hold the paper/fabric down also would work. What is important is that the area must be flat.

Using a push pin, tie a piece of string to it and tie the other end to a pencil or thin marker. The area from the pin to marker of the string needs to be 1/2 the size of the circle you need. So, if you want a 60" circle, then the area has to be 30" of string.

Push the pin into the paper (or just hold it steady) where the folds meet in the center and into the card board. Now tug on the string so that your marker is exactly 30" (tape or tie) from the center, hold it straight, and draw an arc, side to side. Do the same thing again, but this time, 20" of string from the center (that will give you your 10" depth of the circle).

Cut along the marked arcs and open up and you will have that perfect donut shaped circle. (don't cut anything until you have read the whole post!).

NOTE: What ever your finished size is, you will need 1/4 inch seam allowance on both sides of your circle, so remember to take that into consideration. That would mean that the arcs you draw should be 10.5" apart, giving you 1/4 inch on both sides of the circle for seam allowance.

Now, this is your pattern for the circle. I will use 5' for the remaining example.

You said you would be using random blue fabrics. If they don't have to be exactly the same size, then place some fabrics around the circle to cover it, randomly draw some lines on where to seam the fabric pieces and sew away makeing a rough circle of fabrics. Use your paper pattern to cut the finihed circle to the exact size you need.

If your fabrics in the circle all need to be the same size, then you first need to figure out how many different fabrics you will be using. Let's say it is 8 different fabrics of equal size blocks. BEFORE YOU CUT THE ARCS out of the paper pattern, mark your area between the arcs for the 8 equal sizes so the markings are on your circle pattern. You only have to do this on the top piece of your pattern (1/4 of the circle). Now take some tissue paper for something your can see through, and trace the size of the equal piece of fabric outline. This becomes the template for your equal fabric pieces. (please check out some websites that show how to paper piece a double wedding ring quilt block to get a better idea).

Transfer the template pattern to something sturdy, like card stock, thick paper, or thin platic and be sure to include the 1/4 inch seam allowence on all edges. Cut all your fabrics from this template, sew together 1/4 of the circle units (you will have 4 units made of 8 fabrics) and then sew the 4 units together to make the complete circle.

Before you get to the real thing, practice this on a smaller paper, like a 3 foot square so that you can let us know if you have any questions before you do the real thing.

I hope I have helped in some way. I know this got very wordy, but knowing you had never sewn before, I wanted to be as clear as possible so I didn't confuse you.

Good luck!

Diane

I am so sorry for your loss (((HUGS))) I think it is awesome that everyone is taking part in this quilt, be it sewing, playing, singing...what a great way to memorialize your DH. (((HUGS)))
The only thing that I have to add, is to press your seams open, so that they will lay flatter in your circle.