circle into square

[Patti B.]

I'm just beginning this project and have found it very frustrating being able to sew the circles in month's 3, 4, & 5 into the blue squares with the hole in the center. I am not getting flat results. Is there not an easier way? I'm not a beginner at quilting but this has got me stumped.

Patti

[Nancy R.]

I just did a lot of pinning, sewed slowly and used tweezers to pull the bottom layer into position. I first basted around the circle to help ease in the bulk and so that I could fix any sections that had problems, then sewed with my regular stitch length. It all went together pretty well for me.

Nancy

[Judy B.]

Adding to what Nancy said: Divide your circle into quarters and eighths. Divide the opening in the square
into quarters and eighths as well. Match up those points and everything should fit together well -- assuming
that the original cutting was exact. Good luck!

[Renata L.]

Because I was new at this, I did what Judy and Nancy did but did a hand-basting of the pieces together and took out the pins before putting it under the machine to stitch. As I grew more comfortable, I did away with the hand-basting.

[Patti B.]

Thank you for the reply's. I will keep plucking along sewing and taking out. I think I will also try Renata's trick and see if that works any better for me. I love the quilt though. I am just using stash in the same color, or close, as the Fizz. Trying to use that stash!
Thanks again
Patti

[Patti B.]

If this helps: When I pin, I pin the circle in quarter increments, then in eighths, then in sixteenths, etc. until it's all pinned pretty closely. Then when I machine stitch, I use a long basting stitch first, taking out the pins as I come to them. After I've basted, I look to see if there are any parts that aren't right. I rip a small area around the bad parts and rebaste. I do that until I'm happy with the whole thing. Then I stitch with the 1.5 stitch (or whatever is recommended). Tah dah! All perfect. Hope this makes sense!

[Patti B.]

I just did my first circle into square last weekend (yeah, I know I'm late but all the circles are done and actually almost done with the 9 applique blocks too). I put it off because I knew that doing this was going to be a BEAR! Well, I had an epiphany! I used Sharon Schamber's Piecelique technique and it was so easy!

If you do a YouTube search on Sharon Schamber Piece Lique you will find the technique. Just imagine that I used a circle of doubled freezer paper with the center circle cut out to turn under the seam allowance around the inside of the circle in the square of fabric, clipping the curve first. Layed it on top of the star, glued it down, then sewed it to the circle. It came out PERFECTLY with no problem, no fusing, no lining up edges.

[Patti B.]

i do it sharon schember way - glue it first, then fix it if needed, then sew.
good luck

[Patti B.]

You are both right, I love Sharon's lessons. She is such a great mentor. I inset the circles a couple different ways and used it her technique also. There are lots of ways to get them done. Sharon is one of the queen's, that's for sure.

[Patti B.]

I think since I have 8 more to do that I will cut the ring for turning under the circle out of the heat resistant plastic. I used that for dozens of hearts I had to applique and turned the edges. It worked fantasticly.