Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Technique Tuesdays with Debby Kratovil: East Meets West

Debby Kratovil is here today, working with the Sakura collection by Greta Lynn for Kanvas, and making perfect circles!
Beautiful fabrics from the Sakura collection from Kanvas



What did these fabrics say to you, Debby?


Butterflies remind me of Spring. Are you coming, Spring?
I wanted to make something simple, letting the fabric take the stage. Simple shapes: circles and squares. Did I say that circles are simple? Easy? Of course. Let me show you how!

Isolate a butterfly. Cut out a circle of freezer paper.
I drafted a 6" circle and printed it. Then I traced it onto freezer paper. I will center it on my butterfly.

Captured all of the butterfly within the circle
Now I iron the freezer paper circle to the WRONG side of the butterfly. It will be my sewing guide.

Cut a piece of medium weight interfacing larger than the circle
Now for the fun part!
Sew along the EDGE of the freezer paper circle (I've already peeled the circle off)
 Now we trim, leaving 1/8" - 1/4" seam allowance.
Trim!
OK. Now you're confused, right? It's like I painted myself into a corner. How do I get out?

Clip into the interfacing and turn the butterfly circle right side out. Press well (but not on the interfacing side)
OK. How does it look from the front?

Butterfly auditioning for a background fabric
Chose this due to the irregular etched lines.
Butterfly pinned and ready for stitching
What color thread did I use? Black, but I also found that finer-than-usual thread disappears into the fabric much better. I changed my thread after the first circle was stitched. I also used black in the bobbin. Why? Because sometimes the bobbin thread "beads" up to the top and I didn't want little specks of white or cream to show on the front.

Now it's time to clip away background fabric and interfacing
Notice that I used a narrow, short machine zigzag stitch.
Now it's time for my alternate block for the 5 butterfly blocks.
Make simple 4 Patch blocks
 And how does the quilt look?

Sakura Butterfly Quilt

10" blocks. 42" x 42" quilt. I will quilt it with my friend Jeannine's walking foot along the straight lines. Then I'll free motion quilt each block individually.

Thanks, Debby, for the great tutorial! 
To enter to win some Sakura fat quarters, make sure you are a follower of our blog (you can sign up to follow by email or through a blog reader in the right hand sidebar) and then head over to Debby's blog and leave a comment on her Sakura post, letting her know you're following, and if you've ever made circles for a quilt before. The giveaway will remain open through Friday, March 14th at 11:59 pm EST.
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42 comments:

  1. That really is beautiful. I have done circles on quilts, but not that way. Those fabrics are lovely.

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  2. Love this technique to make perfect circle appliques!

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  3. Great technique for making those gorgeous butterfly blocks!

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  4. I am a GFC of both blogs. I have used this method for circles on table runners. Love the butterflies and what fun to fussy cut with those.

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  5. Debby ... this really showcases the butterfly fabric. Wonderful! I have used this circle method before and it always works well. I love the way you fussy cut and placed the butterflies. Thanks for sharing ... :) Pat

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  6. HI,this is so neat! No,I haven't done circles;like to try though! Thanks for your neat Post+Giveaway!

    msstitcher1214@gmail.com

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  7. I am a follower via email. Great tutorial. And, I left Debbie a note that I enjoyed her tutorial.

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  8. I'm a follower via email. I've done circles before using this method. Thanks for the sweet giveaway ;)

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  9. Following with bloglovin'. I made a christmas ornament with circles.
    24Tangent@gmail.com

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  10. What a great way to do circles, I made a cushion top with a circle inset.

    I am a follower via email.

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  11. I follow via email..I've made circles for the middle of Dresden plates in the same manner.

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  12. I follow thru Bloglovin & email :)

    Have never made a quilt with Circles...but looove Debbie's!!!

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  13. Great tutorial! Thank you for the chance

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  14. I have never done circles this way, but you make it look so easy that I'm going to have to give it a try!!! Thank you so much for the tutorial and the chance to win some beautiful fabric!!

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  15. That was an interesting tutorial. I haven't done circles. She made it sound easy.

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  16. WOW! Debby did a wonderful job on the tutorial. She made it so easy that I will be giving this a try. Thanks for the giveaway. I am now following your blog via GFC. Going to Debby's blog now.

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  17. What a great idea to take the fear out of making circles.

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  18. Great use of the butterfly print. I follow via bloglovin and email.

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  19. Beautiful... looks easy. I am a beginner quilter.

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  20. following you via Bloglovin! Excellent tute, beautiful fabrics!

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  21. Following via Bloglovin. Beautiful Butterfly quilt. Love the easy circles Debbie has created. Thank you for sharing your technique Debbie. Creative Stitching Bliss...

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  22. This is a great technique! Thank you for sharing!

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  23. Nice way to do circles. They can be tricky.

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  24. What a great way to do circles, Thanks

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  25. great way to do circles. I follow with bloglovin

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  26. darlenekrystal@gmail.comMarch 12, 2014 at 7:47 AM

    Wow....that was cool...awesome quilt.....made circles for applique for my xmas tablecloth....each different for 4 sizes of circles.....that was at xmas...still sewing them into place.......

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  27. this is a beautiful quilt. and so easy! i love this fabric. i follow you and debby both via email. babscorbitt@gmail.com

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  28. Great technique, thank you for showing us. I follow you and Deby.

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  29. What a pretty quilt based on those 5 butterflies. & it's just in time for Spring!

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  30. How pretty! That's an interesting way to make the circles like that.
    hulseybg at gmail dot com

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  31. I am already a follower of your blog and enjoy reading your posts. Beautiful outcome on the quilt.

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  32. I follow this blog via Bloglovin. I have made circle appliques for many quilts but would like to try this new to me technique.

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  33. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing how to do it.

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  34. I follow! Love this fabric and the tutorial! Beth @ Words & Stitches, pbstrand@msn.com

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  35. Bloglovin follower: Nicole Sender. I love the butterflies.

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    Replies
    1. I find circles are very difficult for me to sew.

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  36. My favorite three are Silver Lining, The Corner of Bauhaus and Glass House

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  37. This makes it look so simple--very nice

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  38. I've never made circles before, but if I had known it was this easy I would have done them before. I will be doing them now. I follow on bloglovin.

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  39. Your website design is very classy. Im sure that your web developer is a professional person. Winter Sale Jacket

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