At this month’s Leeds MQG meeting, Jenny from Pappersaxsten came to teach us how to sew curves without pins. We had a choice of two patterns – Footloose, a triple Drunkard’s Path, or Sunflower, a standard Drunkard’s Path. I chose the Footloose pattern as it would give me plenty of opportunity to sew curves of different sizes. We were told to bring a small rotary cutter if we had one as it would be easier for cutting curves with the templates and I couldn’t resist bring a few pin, just in case …
After Jenny had demonstrated how to sew curves and in what order to assemble the block pieces, it was time for us to give her no pins method a go. I did try a few pieces without using pins, but I found I was much quicker and the edges lined up much better if I used a single pin to match the centre points of the curve. With the help of a few pins, I was able to get 16 blocks completed and joined with sashing so it could go on its way to someone who needs to make a quilt in a hurry and had asked for any spare blocks in purple and black.
Sewing the curves got easier with practice, but I did find it odd trying to cut curves with a template and rotary cutter. I wasn’t put off entirely and bought Jenny’s templates for the Sunflower block so I can make that pattern at some point.
Jenny’s templates include a generous ½” seam allowance on the edge of the block and a square-up template. This means that there isn’t the pressure to ensure perfectly matching edges and makes it for more likely for me to try other Drunkard’s Paths patterns when I want a change from sewing straight seam blocks.
