Running in Circles!
 

I am trying quilt using circles. I bought one of those circular attachments, but it didn't work very well. The back side puckered a lot, and the front some also. So I tried marking and just sewing a circle that way, but the whole circle raised in the back as if I was doing trapunto (without stuffing). I'm just NOT having any success at this. Any advice from you wonderful experienced quilters?

Sorry, I tried using a straight ruler once on my Bernina and didn't find it an enjoyable experience.

how much room do you have for your quilt to move behind the needle? that could be one reason for bunching. You should be able to sew a circle but slowly turning your quilt while keeping it flat. Watch some videos on this method.

You could get a circular quilt ruler and a ruler foot for your machine. Not sure how the attachment is supposed to work. I always thought it was to sew circles.

Nativetexan, I was only doing a test square so I had free movement. I'm sure with just stabilizer backed fabric it would have been fine. Maybe just not designed with quilting in mind?

MadQuilter, it is for sewing circles. That's what I thought I was doing--sewing circles. Although I did have three layers under the presser foot. The circular ruler and foot is definitely an idea worth exploring. I have never done ruler work only FMQ and straight-line quilting. Sounds like a steep learning curve.:shock:

As mentioned, you have to have a lot of room for your quilt to move. Also, the layers need to be secured a lot more than with straight line quilting. If you use spray, add lots of pins in the area(s) that you are going to do circles in. If you use pins, use lots more! Don't just pin in the area where the stitching will be, make sure you also pin the interior of the circle and also just outside the stitching line. Some circle attachments let you use a walking foot. This helps too. You need to go very slowly, and keep adjusting your fabric so it's not hanging up anywhere.

What size circles are you doing?
I can't help with the puckering but in order to get your circles, well circular, think of them as squares. Think of your four points and connect each point using an arc. Look forwards towards your next point, not at where you are.
Hope that helps in the geometry department.
The toughest thing for me about ruler quilting is remembering to keep the foot against the ruler or template. If you can keep the foot snug against the ruler you've got it.

Watson.

I know it's a dumb question -- but I've made this mistake -- are your feed dogs down & is your stitch length set to 0?

I absolutely agree with Paper Princess about the pinning process being critical. Tape down your backing & pin from the center out every 4" or fist-width. The only other suggestion I have is to make sure you're not twisting or turning the quilt to create the circle. Your hands should form a triangle-like shape near the needle so you can have good control over moving the quilt. Just move a little bit, stop, re-position your hands & then start again. Don't pick your hands up while the machine is moving or that can cause puckers.

As far as it looking puffy like trapunto, I'm wondering what you have between your layers of fabric. You mentioned stabilizer. Depending on how thick that is & how thick your batting is, that could be the culprit. Circles do seem to puff up a bit more than other shapes even in most professional quilts I've seen. But if yours are puffing more maybe try adjusting the tension on your presser foot.

Great idea about connecting the dots to form an arc....I did this for rectangles I. Sashing on a baby quilt and it worked very nicely.. :)

Judy in Phx, AZ

I use either spray baste or Elmer's glue to hold the sandwich together -- the back moves because there is play in the fabric. If I don't use glue, I do a bit of stay stitching (stitch in the ditch, etc.) before trying the fancy stitching.