WIP Wednesday

If you've been following the blog you may be getting the sense that I've never met a pieced circle I didn't like. Lately I've been working on a new design, piecing lots of patchwork circles into a solid grid.

I've sewn 18 yellow circles into squares of kona ash. The yellow circles are 11" finished diameter.

Now I'm trimming the gray squares... 

into 15.5" circles.

And placing the circles at the intersections of a solid background grid.

I measure a 14.5" circle on the backround.

And cut around the template.

Then I pin the yellow piece into the background. I mark 8 compass points in the seam allowance on both pieces, pin at the 8 points, pin to secure the sashing seams in the background, and then pin 2 more times between each of the 8 compass points. I think that's 32 pins.

The hilarious and fearless Lynne at Lily's Quilts recently wrote a great tutorial for piecing circles. It's very close to the method I had been using, but she convinced me to use more pins. You can believe me when I say I hate pinning, but it's worth it.

Sew and press the seams to the inside to form a 15" finished circle. (this photo is a different block, because I don't have it in me to sew another circle right now!)

This 74"x74" quilt top has 12 full circles and 12 half-circles along the edges. I've completed 1 full circle and 3 halves. Although I am getting better at it, it does take a lot of time and concentration.