AngelinaMaria

I would like to make a quilt that has circles on it. I have tons of cherry fabric from Moda's Berry Delicious line and feel that something with circles would work nicer than squares or straight lines. I have never made a quilt block with curves to it so I am unsure how to proceed.

Is there a circle template you would recommend and/or a method of making them? A google search took me to Elisa's Back Porch and while I like her designs, her circles are broken up into quarters and I'm thinking I want mine whole. If you have used Elisa's templates (the 6 inch quick curves or the 7 inch crazy curves, are those very easy to use and does the method result in nice blocks? Are most or all quilts that have whole circles made doing appliqué? Not sure I want to do that.

feline fanatic

Sounds like you may be better off doing applique circles if you want the fabrics to remain whole circles. I made this quilt that way and it was a great to go project.
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I hand appliqued the 5" circles to precut 6 1/2" squares then machine sewed the squares. For a template, I used a compass and drew a 5" circle on water color paper (same as card stock or poster board) and cut it out. then I used the template to draw my cutting line on the back of the fabric and cut leaving a generous seam allowance. I then did a loose running stitch around the outer edge of the circle and left very long thread tails. I placed the fabric over the card stock template and pulled those tails to draw the fabric around the template, like making a yo yo. Then I pressed well, removed the template starched and pressed again.

At this point you can either hand or machine applique the prepared circles to a background block. So don't bother buying a template, make your own. Don't have a compass? use a lid from a plastic tub like Cool Whip or cottage cheese or saucer or a cup or a glass. Your house is full of circles to use.

crafty pat

I ordered the circle maker from Nancy's notions and I love it. You can do so many things with it. I am getting ready to use it to make a quilt now.

bjchad

Go into your kitchen and choose a round plate that is the size you want. Turn it over. Voila! Circle template. Never tried this but bet you could even use a rotary cutter with it (only not with the best china of course). Or use it to draw around and cut out with scissors.

notmorecraft

I use the EZ circle cutter which has several different sizes, its really easy to use.

gale

that's a good idea. I have corelle dishes and use one of the small ones to round my corners. I just use my rotary cutter with it as if it was a ruler.

RST

I use a compass or some circular object to draw whatever size I want. My technique for applique circles is to use water soluable interfacing, draw the circle on that. Stitch to fabric, right sides facing, allowing for a good 1/4 inch outside of stitch line for cutting. Cut out, then slit the interfacing enough to turn the fabric right side out, smooth the curves with a knitting needle or your instrument of choice. You're left with beautifully smooth circles that are easy to applique by hand or machine. Once they finished project is washed the first time, the interfacing dissolves completely, leaving you with no extra bulk or stiffness under the circle.

adamae

It is why I bought my Go Baby...to make circles. What a time saver and the die has three size circles.

needles3thread

RST, I really like your method of doing applique circles. Good results.

wraez

depending on the size you want you could just use an old DVD or CD ... nice and firm, or the bottom of a plate ... no expense involved.