Sometimes when you try a new technique and don’t like it, it is hard to tell if it’s just not your cup of tea or if you just aren’t good at it yet and you would like it if you were more practiced at it. The tricky part is deciding if a skill is worth the time it takes to figure out if you like it or not.
When a set of almost 70 ten inch squares came into my lap, I remembered the free Curvy Layer Cake pattern from Tiny Orchard Quilts and I decided it was time to see, once and for all, if I liked curved piecing. With the help of a lot of starch, a gift card to get the nice Creative Grids ruler for cutting curves, and five pins a piece, I ended up zooming through these blocks in just a few sessions. It turns out that curves are absolutely worth the time it takes.
After many enjoyable hours of tweaking and retweaking my layout (see photo under the cut), I arrived at a color wash I was very happy with and made the ambitious decision to give the third largest quilt I’ve ever made an all over free motion treatment. I was a little concerned, but ended up really enjoying the process as well as the result. I made a post with tips for free motion quilting on a small machine here.
I’m not quite sure where or who this quilt is destined for, but wow do I love it.
67”x76” made June-July 2026
P.S. one of the benefits of making your own quilt is thinking “I bet that would feel nice to walk on” and no one can tell you not to.
