Perfect Circles!

by maddie6 on May 15, 2013

Perfect Circles for Quilting and More!

* Yep, moving more content over here to BAQS..  bear with me if any links are a bit wonky for a moment.

Circles are very popular right now in the sewing and quilting world but they can be sort of bear to make unless you know this little tip.

This version makes a tidy finished edge circle that is just right for quilting, crafting and sewing in general.

You Will Need-
Circle template of heavy craft stock or chip board – I used cardboard coasters from the $1 section of Target.
Aluminium foil- Heavy duty kind in best and can be reused a zillion times. 
Fabric of choice
Hot Iron
Spray Starch

Cut your fabric circle and your foil just a bit wider than your circle, enough to turn under but no so much that you have a lot of bulk. I personally clip the corners on my fabric but don’t round it.. I be lazy!

Pleat the fabric around the circle then pull the foil up around this to hold in place.. this is where the heavy duty foil makes it worth it.. it is much stronger and holds even stubborn fabric in place.

Smooth the edges with your finger so you don’t get any little crimp marks.

Iron on both side and then LET IT COOL

Pull off foil and slip circle out from under the fabric.

Shoot fabric with a bit of starch and then press again for the hell of it

There you go.. circle perfection!

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Stephanie Forsyth

 

 

She is sassy, classy and more than a bit BadAss-y and that is why I love Stephanie Forsyth and have picked her for my cover quilter this week. This lady pulls no punches and I love it!

Stephanie _edited-1

With a  charming mouth like a sailor on leave and the talent  and wit to make you smile from the moment you meet her this lady rocks my quilty world.

She is a people watching, color lover  who  began her professional life as a Graphic Designer with a love of balance, contrast and negative space so  it was no surprise that these talents bled over into the world of quilting.

Her work resonates with the topics that intrigue her as well as the world around her.

koi

 

 

She loves her family, her kitty, beer, tattoos (even if she is too scared to get one,) and learning the banjo and ukelele and you can find out more about her on her blog The Fiber Nation  or on Her professional website Stephanie Forsyth.com .  Really.. really.. go read her blog!!  and then go look at her professional gallery!

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* Want to spread the word about amazing quilt artists like Stephanie and all the others I feature here?   Share this post on your own Fb time line and Pin it on Pinterest if you are a member- Thank you!

 

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Sometimes plans in my head don’t actually work out when it come to fabric and sometimes my lack of a plan bites me in the ass. In either  case I am stuck to figure out how to either save a project or if I want to scrap it.

Truth be told I rarely scrap a project but I will put it away for a jolly long time until  I once again trip on it and find new inspiration in what was before a project that was going nowhere.

In the case of “Rare Beauty” I had done the center panel and then was stuck.  I felt like it was too narrow. I added mitered trim borders.. better, but still stuck and missing something.

And there it sat… and sat….. and sat some more as I would try ideas, one after an other only to reject them for some reason or another.

I suspected that I was going to have to take off the borders and damn if I did I not want to do that since I had mitered them and had no more of the fabric with which to replace them.

Stew- Think – Grumble …………………

Since the whole heart of this quilt was applique I came up on the idea of adding applique strips that would look as if they have been pieced into the border… now I was getting somewhere.

So side by side I created an internal border and used some dots ofRoxanne Glue-Baste-It to hold it in place as I made sure it was lined up exactly with the seam.
The Roxanne Glue-Baste-It also made sure that I was getting a perfect miter at the corners.. after all if you are going to fake it you need to do it right!
Next I went around the whole (new) border with a custom sized buttonhole stitch ( thank you Bernina 830!) – Once again the Roxanne Glue-Baste-Itwas an amazing help here.. no scooting or buckling . just smooth sailing the whole way!
 Have you gotten the point about how much glue can be your third hand in the sewing room?
I have no idea what is next but at least I am back on the path to getting this piece done!
* This is a repost from my other site.  I am slowly bringing content over here .. enjoy!
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