The Making of One Earth - Tutorial

The Making of One Earth - Tutorial

I had been playing with improvisational curves.  Unfortunately, I like my curves too curvy.  And, the improv curves work better with less curvy curves.  Ultimately, this technique failed for me for this project because my pieces got increasingly distorted as the shape got larger.  So, I opted for the more traditional approach for curved pieces.  This is a method that works!

Draw your curves on a piece of freezer paper.
Cut out the paper shapes.
Press them to the RIGHT side of the fabric.
DO NOT cut along the edge of the freezer paper, DO cut 1/4" from the edge of the freezer paper, thus adding your seam allowance.
Then sew the pieces together (right sides together).

Bonus: The freezer paper templates can be reused many times!
I started by drawing some curves.  


If you would like to see this is action, here's a short video of drawing the curves:

Also, I wanted my biggest and last curve to be a perfect circle, like a Drunkard's path pattern.  So, I started with it first, and used a tape measure with holes punched in it (I punched the holes myself!).

Also, I mentioned in the video that you can make one big circle if you make 4 templates like this.  Too silly!  You don't need to make 4 templates, that's the beauty of having a template.  Draw it once, and then use it 4 times to make a circle!

Next I cut the paper shapes apart with a rotary cutter.  I did not hit the lines exactly, but that is really not too important, as long as you add the 1/4" as you cut your fabric to the actual edge of the freezer paper template.  Press them to the right sides of the fabric, and cut them all out.
Here is another video showing using scissors to cut the seam allowance:

Here are all the pieces for one quadrant of the earth. You can see the seam allowances peaking out from the paper templates.

Next, gently peel off the freezer paper and then stitch the pieces together.
Fold each piece in half with the two sides touching and crease the middle, then fold again.  You will have pieces that look like this.  The creased folds will help you pin the pieces together.


When opened, it should look like this:

Here is a photo of how to match the creases:













Place one pin at each side, and a pin for each fold:

I like to sew with the larger piece on the top.  Even though the folds look unwieldy, it is not too hard if you sew slowly.  Here is a video with a few tips:

After sewing fabrics for all four quadrants, I selected a background, in this case white fabric.
 
Then a made a template for the background from the unused outer corner of the arcs I drew and cut earlier.  Sorry, but I didn't take a picture of that one!  You can get an idea of the shape by looking at the shape of the white corner pieces in the photo above.

Next up, the little i's.  I used Mistyfuse on the back of all my fabrics.  It is super easy and quick and fun!  Cut out a piece of the Mistyfuse and press it to the back of the fabric using a teflon sheet to protect your iron.  When it cools, peel it up and cut out your shape.  I used varying widths and heights to make the i's and then decided their placement on the quilt top before any of them were pressed into place.












Last up, layering with batting and a backing (which is another post!), and quilting with my favorite grey Masterpiece from Superior Threads:

I had a LOT of fun with the quilting!  It was fun to pick a different pattern for each of the layers.  I did not have fun quilting the 1/2" concentric spiral of the background.  I love the way it looks, but it is not fun too do it.  I should also mention that I quilted the background BEFORE fusing the "i" shapes on.  It made it much easier to get the effect I wanted.  Then I went back and quilted the i's too!