Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Twister Circle tutorial

Call me crazy, but I'm going to attempt to explain how to make the circles for the twister quilt.

1. Draw a 7" circle on cardstock (I used a kitchen bowl - use same bowl for final trim down)
2. Cut into fourths and make another template using one of the pieces and adding 1/4 inch to the straight edges and about 1/2 inch to the round edge

3. This is your template

4. I'm on a spending freeze, so I pulled these from my stash. Yellow is for the foundation piecing. Cut (96) from #3 template above. The white will be background pieces cut (24) 11 x 9.5. (original quilt was done with muslin for both the foundation piecing and block backgrounds)
5. I love using my scraps for this quilt, but am low on green and yellow so I'll have to dig into my stash for those.


6. I try to find pieces about 4" x 5" but since I'm using my stash, I also use skinnier pieces. You may need 3 fabrics for each quarter piece if you do this.

7. Place first piece right side up on foundation. Place second piece right side down and centered on foundation. Sew 1/4 seam on second piece.

8. Iron second piece over so entire foundation is covered.
9. This is what it looks like face up.
10. Trim to match foundation piece. (yes, there is a lot of waste this way, but I'm mostly using my scraps so I don't mind.)

11. Finished quarter piece.


12. Sew 2 quarters together to make 2 halves.
13. Sew 2 halves together. Use bowl to draw 7" circle
14. Trim to 7" circle

15. Center on background fabric and machine applique.


Here's another quilt that uses the same technique:

Close up of one block

2 comments:

Judy said...

Bliss, thanks for posting these directions. Some day I plan to do one of these too! :)

Shari said...

This is a great tutorial! Love the appliqued flowers - what possibilities!