Between the Lines QAL: Pattern 5/9 - Row 7 Over the Hills + Giveaway!

We are halfway through our Between the Lines QAL! Are you ready for part 5? Today we are making our fifth row and celebrating reaching the halfway point with a giveaway.

In the Between the Lines quilt along, you won’t only find patterns with straight lines. Two rows are made with quarter circles. Today, we’ll be making the first one: row 7, “Over the Hills.”

Giveaway

Everyone who completes the first five rows can participate in the giveaway. All the details can be found at the bottom of this blog.

Live video

In this blog post, you’ll find all the written instructions. Tomorrow, September 27 at 4 PM CET, we’ll have another Between the Lines live video on YouTube. We’ll be working with quarter circles. I’ll show you how I cut the fabric, pin the shapes, and sew the quarter circles together.

You can already ask your questions about this row, the previous one, or the quilt along in general in the video’s comment section. I’ll answer them during the live session.

Reading the blog after the 27th? Then feel free to watch the video recording at your own pace.

New here?

We started the Between the Lines QAL on June 6. Every four weeks, we make a row together. We work with different techniques: Foundation Paper Piecing, quarter circles, traditional patchwork, and strip piecing (sewing and cutting strips). Does this sound like fun to you? Read all about the QAL in this blog post!

Would you like to order a kit with all the materials for this quilt? You can order a Rainbow kit or a Green-Teal kit in the Sugaridoo webshop.

Materials

In the patterns, I make two versions of the quilt: the rainbow and teal quilt. For both versions, I specify which fabrics to use. Of course, you are free to make the quilt with whichever fabrics you prefer.

Rainbow quilt

Green with squares
Dark green with robots
Dark gray
White background

Teal quilt

Light green with robots
Dark green with robots
Dark gray
White background

Before we begin

Today we are working with curved shapes, quarter circles. Curved shapes are a new technique in the Between the Lines QAL, and they might be entirely new to you. Don’t worry, we’ll tackle them together!

I used to think that sewing curves would be very difficult until I tried it. My first quarter circles weren’t perfect, but with practice, I improved.

So, if this is your first attempt, see this row as an exercise. It doesn’t have to be perfect right away. With patience, plenty of pins, and a few tips, I’m sure you’ll be sewing beautiful quarter circles by the end of this row.

Instructions

Let’s get started with row 7.

There are two templates for this row. Template A is the convex shape, the quarter circle. Template B is the concave shape, the background around the quarter circle.

Click here to download the pattern for the templates

It’s important to print your pattern at full size. Measure the inch block to ensure everything printed correctly.

Cutting

For this row, you will need the following:

Green Squares (Light green with robots):

12 x A

Dark Green with Robots:

14 x A

Dark Gray:

2 x A

Background Fabric:

28 x B
1 x strip of 1 x 53″ (including seam allowance). If you cut all your strips at the start of the QAL, you should already have this strip.

Cutting Diagram

Below is a cutting diagram. For this row, I attached the templates to the fabric with a temporary glue stick and cut them out with scissors.

The background fabric is shown at fabric width. From 1 strip of background fabric approximately 5 inches wide, you could cut template B 12 times.

If you have a special ruler for cutting circles, you can use it to cut the quarter circles. However, you might have a bit more fabric waste.

The Pattern

We will make this row with quarter circles. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve made a whole quilt with this technique before or if this is entirely new for you. We’ll go through it step by step together!

Sewing Quarter Circles

I have always found sewing round shapes exciting. But when I finally got started, it turned out to be quite manageable. Is it as easy as sewing a straight line? No, it’s not. But with practice, you’ll see that it gets better and easier with each block.

Make sure to cut the templates neatly from the fabric, with the indicated 1/4″ seam allowance.

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1:
Fold the background fabric in half, right sides together. Fold the green quarter circle in half, wrong sides together. This marks the center of the round shape.

Step 2:
Place the background fabric on the green fabric. Make sure the folds line up nicely and pin this in the center.

Step 3:
Align the sides nicely and pin them together. The fabric may bunch up between the pins, and that’s okay.

Step 4:
Use as many pins as you like to get the fabric aligned along the round shape. Once you’re more practiced, you might only need the three pins from steps 2 and 3. More pins can really help in the beginning to sew the round shape.

Step 5:
Sew gently at 1/4 inch from the edge. Hold the fabric between the pins in place with your fingers. Try to lay the background fabric neatly to the edge of the green fabric and sew without creating puckers in the seam.

Pressing

Normally, I would just say, “press your block.” But with quarter circles, the different pressing options can have a bigger effect on the ‘look’ of your block.

You can press the seam open. This keeps the quarter circle and background fabric the same height.

If you press the fabric to the outside, the quarter circle will sit slightly lower. If you press to the inside, the quarter circle will rise slightly.

The differences are subtle, especially once your quilt is quilted. But it’s worth exploring the differences and choosing what you find most appealing.

Ask Your Questions!

In the live video on September 27, I’ll show you how to sew quarter circles. We’ll discuss cutting the fabric using templates. I’ll also show you how I pin, sew, press open, and trim the shapes.

If you have questions in advance, feel free to leave them in the comments under this blog post or under the YouTube video.

Trimming to Size

Once you’ve sewn and pressed all the blocks, it’s time to trim them to size.

For each half circle, we need two quarter circles. Important: You need an equal number of left and right blocks.

These are the sizes we want to achieve.

The complete block will measure 4 1/4 x 4 inch incusing seam allowance.

The blocks we’ve sewn are slightly larger than the above sizes. Below you can read how to trim them correctly.

First, we’ll ensure that the sides of the green circle are 3 3/4 inches, including seam allowance.

Place your ruler on the block and measure 3 3/4 inches from the corner to both sides. Cut the strips as indicated by the pink dotted lines.

Now we’ll trim the background fabric. Pay attention to whether you want to make a left or right block.

Right Block
Rotate your block and place your ruler as shown in the photo below. Ensure you leave 1/4 inch of background fabric at the top. Leave 1/2 inch of background fabric on the side.

Left Block
For a left block, position your block as shown below. Again, leave 1/4 inch of fabric at the top, and now 1/2 inch on the left side.

Assembling the Row

To create the row, we need the following:

6 half circles of Green with Squares (Light green with robots)
1 half circle of Dark Gray
6 half circles + 2 quarter circles of Dark Green with robots.

Sew two quarter circles together to make a half circle. Always use one left and one right block for this.

Use pins to align the top of the circle before sewing so that the shape flows nicely.

Once you have all the half circles finished, sew the row together as shown in the illustrations.

First, sew the top and bottom rows together.

Then, sew a strip of 1 x 53″ between the two rows.

The total size of the row, including seam allowance, is 8 x 53 inches.

Giveaway

Hooray, you did it! You are now officially halfway through the Between the Lines QAL! Super!

Part 5 of the QAL means it’s time for a giveaway. I’m giving away 3 copies of my book Happy Notes!

Do you want to win one? Here’s what you need to do:

Make the first 5 rows and take a photo of all the rows together. Submit your photo by October 23 at 11:59 PM (CET), just before part 6 is published.

There are two ways to submit your photo to participate:

Upload your photo to the community section of the BERNINA blog: Between the Lines QAL on the BERNINA Blog. When uploading in the BERNINA community section, make sure to select Between the Lines QAL from the dropdown menu.
Alternatively, post a photo of your first 5 rows together on Instagram, tag @Sugaridoo, and use the hashtag #SugaridooBerninaQAL in your post.

We will randomly draw three winners from the participants and announce the winners on Monday, October 28, on the Bernina blog, Sugaridoo Instagram, and in the Sugaridoo Bernina QAL Facebook group.