When I first started quilting, I spent many years on a quest for the perfect way to do curved piecing. Having come from a garment making background, I have no idea why I was so afraid of the idea, but I was, so off I went to class after class. I learned techniques that involved registration lines, freezer paper, lots of fabric marking, masking tape, glue, bias tape, light boxes and many variations of machine appliqué.

Of all the techniques I learned, the one I’m going to show you is by far my favorite because it is easy and the rules are simple. Just layer the fabrics to be pieced right side up and cut through all layers with a gentle curve, then stitch them together with a narrow seam. Although it’s not a technique you can use for all kinds of curved piecing, it works great in the Central Park quilt I made for Timeless Treasures that was released in May, 2008.

When making the Central Park quilt, I have you cutting 7 layers at once, which works great with a rotary cutter, but for this example, we’ll just be using 2 fabrics so you can get the general idea.

1. Start with 2 pieces of fabric sized generously larger than your finished block size. We are using 9″ x 14″ for the blocks in Central Park, which finish at 7″ x 13″.
2. Stack the pieces right sides up.
3. Find the center of the short end of the stack and mark with a crease or marker just at the ends.

   

4. Place your ruler so that its outside edge is about 1 1/4″ from the center on each end of the fabric and cut a gentle curve with a rotary cutter, moving out about an inch from where you start in the widest part of the curve, and then going back to the ruler.

   

5. Repeat for the opposite side of the block. The starting and ending points of the cuts should be approximately 2 1/2″ apart at the ends of the blocks.
6. Separate the stacks. Lift out the center section of the top fabric and set it aside, keeping it right side up.

   

7. Move the top layer of the piece of fabric to the right of the center over onto the remaining center piece, right sides together and aligning the top edges.

   

8. Take the to the sewing machine and take 1 or 2 stitches along the curved edge with a seam allowance slightly smaller than 1/4″. The smaller the seam allowance, the easier it will be for your block to lie flat when you’re finished, and the 2 curves will argue less with each other. So try to keep it between 1/8″ and 1/4″.

   

9. Put your needle in the down position and put your right hand on the bottom fabric to control it as it feeds into the machine. Use your left hand to hold and control the top fabric. You will need to adjust each piece separately as you go along your seam, stitching slowly. Keep an eye on that bottom fabric so it doesn’t squirrel away from you.
   1. When the curve on your bottom piece bows out to the right, the bottom (right)hand moves toward the left and the left hand with the top fabric moves toward the right.

      

   2. Reversely, when the curve on your bottom piece bows inward to the left, the bottom (right) hand moves toward the right and the left hand with the top fabric moves toward the left. This becomes really easy after you actually start doing it!

      

10. When you finish stitching, check to be sure your seam is a fairly consistent size–less than 1/4″ all along. Make adjustments if necessary.

1. Repeat for the other side of the center with the top fabric from the remaining stack. Press seams to one side.
2. Make another, opposite block from the remaining center and 2 sides.
3. Stack the blocks again and trim to 7 1/2″ x 13 1/2″.

   

   

Now that I’ve seen how really easy it is to make this type of seam, I marvel at how many years I wasted not doing them. I hope that you will be braver than I was and dive right in. They look so much more difficult than they are, you’ll be glad you did!