Last Friday I took the short walk to our local Hobbycraft. There were several reasons – I needed some fresh air; I needed to stretch my legs; my Craft Group needed supplies; I was on the look out for a quilt magazine; and, hep-hem, I didn’t half fancy a bar of chocolate for lunch 😀 It was a beautiful day, I felt a lot better for the walk, I made some purchases for Craft Group and treated myself to a copy of Today’s Quilter and a bar of Cadbury’s finest 🙂
The free gift on the front of the magazine caught my eye: a set of templates designed for making Orange Peel blocks.
Of course, I had to have a go … And I was pleased with this first attempt at piecing an Orange Peel block – no wrinkles in the seams and smooth looking curves 🙂 There is a page in the magazine giving a few instructions, hints and tips as to how to use the templates. Yesterday I took the templates, my background fabric and some fabrics from my stash to the monthly sewing day at Brown Candover. Several happy hours were spent creating Orange Peel blocks in the gentle company of friends.
If you are curious about curved piecing here is a little photo tutorial of how I made the Orange Peel blocks along with some of the handy tips I picked up along the way.








I am very happy with these blocks. I expect you can see how I’m thinking to use them? Autumn leaves fluttering against a clear blue sky? I don’t have to look too far for inspiration at the moment 😀
I think these 6″ Orange Peel blocks are an ideal way to ease into curved piecing. The curves are fairly shallow making them straightforward to cut, pin and stitch – definitely easier than Drunkards Path blocks. If you have any questions about this tutorial please do drop them into the comments box. I’ll do my best to provide answers or point you in the direction of other tutorials 🙂
Linking with Myra for Finished or Not Friday. This week Myra is featuring a super quick, charm pack baby quilt.
Allison
Orange Peel is on my someday list!
These came out very nice: so bright and cheery. I look forward to seeing the layout for your autumn leaves.
Thank you for visiting my blog. I’m looking out of my window at Autumn leaves against a clear blue sky – I need to put this little quilt together while the inspiration is close at hand!
Great tips for sewing an orange peel block. Having a bit of excess fabric to trim away always makes me feel more confident in my piecing accuracy, too. Thank you for linking up with the Tips and Tutorials Festival!
Thank you for hosting the Festival. I always learn so much from all the participants and it is a pleasure to be part of it too 🙂
This is a great tutorial for the pinning method.
Thank you Lisa! 🙂