BRIGHT SPARK
Push your curved piecing skills with rainbow waves and sunny circles in a minimal, print-mixing design
Push your curved piecing with rainbow waves and sunny circles
RAID YOUR STASH FOR SOME BOLD PRINTS TO HIGHLIGHT IN THE SIX PIECED CIRCLES
NOTES
■ Seam allowances are ¼in, unless otherwise noted.
■ Press seams open, unless otherwise instructed.
■ WOF = width of fabric.
■ RST = right sides together.
■ Templates include seam allowances, where necessary.
■ For templates, see p88.
■ Press fabrics well before cutting.
■ Fabrics supplied by Ruby Star Society (rubystarsociety.com)
■ Legacy 100% Cotton Batting supplied by Hantex (hantexonline.co.uk/lpq-wadding)
FABRICS USED
■ Print fabrics are Spark in Butterscotch, Lipstick, Peony, Roadster Red and Bright Blue, Ice Cream in Bright Blue and Caramel, Good Morning in Peony and Red, Chirp in Navy and Hello in Navy and Soft Blue from the Social collection by Melody Miller for Ruby Star Society.
■ Background fabric is Letters in Peacock from the Anagram collection by Kim Kight for Ruby Star Society.
CUTTING OUT
1 From the background fabric cut:
■ Four (4) 4½in squares. Trim using Template 1.
■ Four (4) 9½in squares. Trim each square using Template 7.
■ Two (2) 4½in x 18½in pieces.
■ Twelve (12) 4½in x 8in pieces. Trim each rectangle using the Arc template.
■ Four (4) 4½in x 5½in pieces.
■ Three (3) 4½in x WOF strips.
2 From each of the print fabrics cut:
■ Two (2) pieces using the Semicircle template.
3 From the mustard fabric cut:
■ Four (4) pieces using Template 2.
■ Four (4) 1½in x 28in strips.
4 From the red fabric cut:
■ Four (4) pieces using Template 3.
■ Four (4) 1½in x 28in strips.
5 From the dark pink fabric cut:
■ Four (4) pieces using Template 4.
■ Four (4) 1½in x 28in strips.
6 From the light pink fabric cut:
■ Four (4) pieces using Template 5.
■ Four (4) 1 in x 28in strips.
7 From the blue fabric cut:
■ Four (4) pieces using Template 6.
■ Four (4) 1 in x 28in strips.
8 From the binding fabric cut:
■ Five (5) 2 in x WOF strips.
PIECING THE CURVE UNITS
9 Take a background Template 1 piece and a mustard Template 2 piece. Fold each piece in half and crease the centre point. Place the two pieces RST, matching centre creases, and pin together at those points. Carefully work outwards towards the edges, pinning the two pieces together and easing along the curve.
10 Machine sew the two pieces together, easing slowly around the edge to prevent puckering the fabrics. Lower your needle and adjust the foot, if you need to.
11 Repeat steps 9–10 to add the Template
3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 pieces to the unit (Figs 1 and 2). Trim to 9 in square, trimming excess away from the Template 7 piece. Repeat steps 9–11 to make a total of four curve units.
PIECING THE SEMICIRCLE UNITS
12 Take a print semicircle piece and a background arc piece and fold each piece in half to crease the centre point. Place the two pieces RST, matching centre creases, and pin. Pin again at two ends, then ease the fabrics between these curves and pin in the gaps.
13 Machine sew the two pieces together, working slowly around the edge. This unit should measure 8in x 4 in.
14 Repeat steps 12–13 to piece twelve semicircle units (Fig 3).
PIECING THE STRIP UNITS
15 Sew a mustard, red, dark pink, light pink and blue 1 in x 28in strip together along the long edges, in the listed order. Press the seams open before adding each strip. Repeat to make a total of four strip units.
ASSEMBLING THE QUILT TOP
16 Join the semicircle units into rows of three units, referring to the Layout Diagram for placement. Add a background
4 in x 5 in piece to one end of each semicircle row. Note, the semicircle row units should be arranged to make matching circles when joined later.
17 Sew a strip unit to each semicircle row, with the mustard stripe joining along the background edge (Fig 4).
18 Add a curve unit to the end of each row, matching up the coloured strips. Use pins to ensure your seams are matched (Fig 5).
19 Join the rows into pairs of two, using pins to carefully match up the seams on the print semicircles and the coloured curved strips (Fig 6). Then add a background 4 in x 18 in strip to the curved end of each set.
20 Decide which half will be at the top, and which half will be at the bottom, referring to the Layout Diagram. Sew a
4 in x WOF strip to the top of both halves. Sew the last 4 in x WOF strip to the bottom of the lower half. Trim excess from the strips on either side.
21 Join the two halves together to complete the quilt top.
QUILTING AND FINISHING
22 Press the quilt top and backing well. Make a quilt sandwich by placing the backing fabric right side down, the batting on top, then place the quilt top centrally and right side up. Baste together using your preferred method.
23 Quilt as desired. Lorna quilted a combination of curves and straight lines to echo the pattern, roughly in apart. Trim off the excess batting and backing fabric and square up the quilt.
24 Sew the binding strips together end-to-end using diagonal seams. Press the seams open. Fold in half lengthways, wrong sides together, and press.
25 Sew to the right side of the quilt, creating a neat mitre at each corner. Fold the binding over to the back of the quilt and hand stitch in place to finish.