Improv Nine Patch and Log Cabin

Here’s something that’s kind of fun.

Take two pieces of fabric and cut them to the same size. These are 9 1/2 inch squares.

Lay one on top of the other.

Use your rotary cutter as a drawing tool and cut curves through both fabrics

Then cut again so that you have cut the fabrics into nine pieces.

Take the fabric pieces apart and lay them out in opposites and you are ready to sew.

Now they are sewn together and you have two improvisational nine patches. If you are particular about the corners matching you can pin the seams together at those points and finesse the edges together as you sew. I’ve never done anything with this technique but people seem to enjoy seeing it.

I have made a lot of pillow tops like the one below using curved seams and sewing improvisation-ally cut pieces around the center until it’s large enough. I call this an Inprov Log Cabin. It’s just that my center is much larger than the traditional log cabin. I figure that the center can be any size.

Curved Piecing Tutorial

Yesterday I told a friend that I’d show her how to do curved piecing as I was taught in a Nancy Crow workshop. Then we got too busy talking and I forgot. So here it the tutorial, Friend. Let me know if it needs more clarification.

Here I’m using two fabrics; one blue and one gold. As Nancy says, I’ve used my rotary cutter as a drawing tool and I have cut a curve on the gold fabric.

Lay the gold fabric on top of the blue fabric.

Now cut a curve on the blue fabric, following the same line as the gold fabric.

You’ll see that you have mirror images of the same curves on the two fabrics.

Lay one fabric over the other fabric face down so that the right side of each fabric is facing the other. Use one pin to fasten the curved edges together at the beginning of the seam.

Begin sewing at the top of the seam using a 1/4″ seam. And, with this technique, it doesn’t have to be a perfect quarter inch. We’re not matching points are anything.

Continue sewing your quarter inch seam holding curved edges together. Yes, it looks like it’s not going to work; there’s a big “fluff.” Do it anyway. It’s like sewing a sleeve into the arm’s eye if you were making a blouse.

Now you’ve sewn the whole seam and, yes, that “fluff” is still there. Take it to the ironing board.

At the ironing board, open the two fabrics,

and press open. You did it. It’s flat. Now go and create something unique and beautiful.