Meeting Recap (November 12, 2022)

We got together Saturday for some crafty fun and social time. Check out November's meeting highlights.

Guild Business

• Details of local and online events:

• PerennialSTL: Intro to Mesh Embroidery, Saturday 11/19, 10am - 1pm Upcycled Quilt Coat, Wednesday 12/14 & 12/21, 6pm - 9pm

• Jackman’s: Christmas Stocking, Thursday 11/17, 10:30am - 2:30pm Build Your Own Bargello Quilt, Saturday 11/19, 10:30am - 4:30pm

• Do you know of some quilty fun? Be sure to share it in our Facebook group or Instagram page.

• Congratulations to the newly elected board officers!
• President: Octavia Pitts through 2023
• Vice President: Jennifer Deck 2023-2024
• Secretary: Gail Luther through 2023
• Treasurer: Susan Muszynski 2023-2024
• Our current membership numbers are 210 guildies. WOW!!
• Announcements and Reminders:
• Membership renewal for 2023 is HERE. Dues will remain $40.
• Hand (Home) Sew Happy Hour is tonight from 6-9PM. This is the last one for the year. ZOOM link.
• December raffle meeting will take place on the 3rd Saturday of the month-12/17/22 in the Sunset Room. Not the second Saturday and not our normal meeting room. There will NOT be Zoom for this meeting. Please note the change.
• Tickets for the raffle can be purchased BEFORE the meeting begins.

Kanzashi Flower Folding

We had a chance to mingle with our fellow guild pals while learning how to fold fabric Kanzashi style. After you fold a few petals you can string them together to make a flower. Between chatting with friends and working with our hands, it seemed like everyone had a good time. Thank you to the Programming committee for coming up with a fun activity!

Committee Updates

• SewMe STL
• Despite a couple of hiccups, our first SewMe retreat in three years was a success!
• Save the date for next year's retreat: September 15-17, 2023.

• Charity Committee
• The charity committee is still tallying the final count, but a conservative estimate is that our guild produced 200+ quilts to donate to The Women's Safe House. What a beautiful effort from our guild!
• Swap and Challenge
• The Fabric Placement challenge has come to an end. Thank you to the committee for bringing this to life.
• Prize winners for participating: Barb Phelps, Terry Darling, Gail McCarthy, and Megan Smith. Congratulations!

Other Items Covered

• Fabric Raffle: Thanks to Cotton Cuts we gave away two FQ bundles of Sketchbook by Alexia Marcelle Abegg to Hope Wyss and Robyn Passig. Hooray!
• Block of the Month Wrap-up: 
• All of the tutorials for the 2022 Block of the Month are posted on the blog and you still have a chance to win. 
• Any member who completes their block of the month quilt top by January's meeting will be entered to win a free longarming service from Dottie Vaughn!
• September and October Block of the Month winners are Kathy Leahy and Carol Schmidt. High fives!
• Donation: Our membership voted to make a donation to SewHopeSTL to aid in their flood recovery.

Meeting #124 (November 12, 2022)

Anyone else wondering how it's November already? With the SewMe retreat wrapped up, it's time to focus on the culmination of our many projects and challenges. Here's what to expect at the November meeting.

Date: November 12, 2022
Time: 10 am-12:30 pm
Location: Shrewsbury Center - 5200 Shrewsbury Ave, St. Louis, MO 63119

Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business

• Zoom etiquette
• Financial Information
• Membership Information
• Quilting News/Around Town
• Reminders and Announcements
• Board election details
• BOM Wrap-up
• Committee updates
• QuiltCon Charity Quilt: Collect remaining blocks.
• Charity: Collect remaining quilts
• SewMe: Weekend recap
• Swap/Challenge: Show and Share

---Break---

• Check in
• Turn QuiltCon Charity Quilt packets
• Turn in charity quilts
• Cast ballots
• Return library books
• Turn in donations for December raffle
• Buy raffle tickets
• Visit free table

-November Activity - Kanzashi Flower Folding

The Programming committee is presenting a Japanese flower folding activity. We'll have supplies available, but if you would like to use your own please bring:

• Scraps of coordinating fabric cut into squares of 1.5-3".
• Coordinating buttons
• Needle
• Thread
• Pins
• Scissors

-Meeting Wrap-up

• September and October Block of the Month winners
• Fabric raffle winner - Thank you Cotton Cuts!
• Attendance Prizes
• Show & Tell (time permitting)

-------------------------- Reminders ------------------------------

• Bring in donations for the December raffle
• Turn in completed blocks for the QuiltCon Charity quilt
• Bring your Swap/Challenge blocks and projects for show and share
• Post your October BOM entries by 11:59 PM this Friday. #stlmqgbom
• Buy raffle tickets online HERE.
• Return any library books you have.
• Wear your name tags.
• Free table items.
• Bring your Show and Share goodies!

2022 Block of the Month Sampler - October

Welcome to Month Ten of the St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild 2022 Block of the Month Sampler! You did it! You made it to the final month of this Block of the Month. All that's left is to finish these blocks and put your quilt together! 

Remember to post your block to Instagram with the hashtag #stlmqgbom before the November meeting  to be entered to win this month's prize. If you don't use Instagram, you may email a photo to the guild email. There will one more monthly prize, but there will also be a drawing for the grand prize for anyone who has a finished Block of the Month quilt top by the January 2023 meeting. STLMQG member Dottie Vaughn has donated longarm quilting service for one finished quilt. Thank you Dottie!

This month, we will be making FOUR 6.5-inch (unfinished) inset circle blocks! I love how this creates a nice, crisp circle without the intersecting seam lines that you get with a Drunkard's path or similar curve technique. There are many tutorials online on how to accomplish this, but as far as I can tell, the technique is most often called the 6-minute circle credited to Dale Fleming. You can see a video of her demonstrating this method here. [note: this definitely takes longer than 6 minutes!] I first learned this technique at one of the very first Sew Me St. Louis retreats so it's fitting that you get to learn this technique the weekend of this year's Sew Me!

SUPPLIES

This block requires a few more items in the way of supplies. If you are at the retreat and brought your BOM fabric so you can finish this quilt, but you don't have these items, come and find me (Em Komiskey) as I will have these things at Sew Me St. Louis. If you plan to complete these inset circle blocks at a later time, come and pick up a piece of freezer paper if you don't already have some! No need to buy a whole box for one project. 

Here's what you'll need: 

• (8) 7½ inch squares of fabric (4 background, 4 for the circles)
• freezer paper about the size of your block
• template for a circle that's around 5 inches (I used an IKEA kids' bowl, which is about 4¾ inches in diameter)
• pen or pencil
• paper scissors
• fabric scissors
• glue stick or glue pen

INSET CIRCLE TECHNIQUE

Pair your fabric squares, deciding which will be background, and which will be the circles. 

Using your circle template (or a compass) trace a circle in the approximate middle of your freezer paper. 

Cut out the circle you traced on the freezer paper, then fold the paper in half lengthwise, then in half widthwise to create a crease every 90° around the circle. 

Fold your background fabric in half lengthwise, then in half widthwise and press with a hot iron to create creases. 

Line up the creases in the paper with the creases of your background fabric. The shiny side of the freezer paper will be face down, and the back/wrong side of your background fabric will be face up. Iron over the freezer paper so it sticks to the fabric. 

Cut out a circle from your background fabric that is approximately ¼ - ½ inch smaller than the circle you cut from the freezer paper. 

Make notches in the background fabric from the inside of the circle up to nearly the edge of the freezer paper all the way around the circle about every ½ inch.

Press the notches of background fabric back over the freezer paper to open up the circle. Some tutorials suggest using a tiny bit of glue on the paper to hold the notches open. I just sprayed a little bit of water and made sure they were creased will. 

Apply glue to the up facing notches of the background fabric. Smooth the circle fabric onto the glue, making sure that all of your background notches stay folded back over the freezer paper. I like to give the block another quick press with the iron to adhere the glue. 

Note: at this point, I flipped my block over and realized a couple notches of background fabric didn't get folded all the way back to the edge of the freezer paper circle. I just peeled them apart, pulled the notched back, and then added a little more glue. 

Trim the excess circle fabric at about the edge of the notched background fabric. Then remove the freezer paper. 

Pull the background fabric back and sew along the crease created by the folded back notches. Go slow, set your needle to stop in the down position if you can, and keep just to the inside edge of your crease. I like to use an open toe appliqué foot so I can see what I'm doing. 

Press your block and trim to 6½ inches. Repeat 3 more times!

 

Meeting Recap (September 10, 2022)

If you attended the meeting Saturday then you know our membership has grown to over 200 modern quilters! It's exciting to see so many people interested in quilt making and we're looking forward to getting to know all of you. Check out September's meeting highlights.

Guild Business

• Details of local and online events:

• City Sewing Room: T-shirt Quilt Class, Thurs. Oct. 13-Nov. 3 5:30-8:00pm

• PerennialSTL: T-shirt Totes + More, Thurs. Sept. 22, 6pm - 8pm

  Intro to Embroidery, Sat. Sept. 24, 10am - 1pm

• Jackman’s: Many upcoming quilting and quilting adjacent classes.

• Alison Glass/Giucy Giuce Mini Series SAL begins September 1.

• Quiltober 2022 with Nicholas Ball (@quiltsfromtheattic) begins October 3. Details on his Instagram page.

• Do you know of some quilty fun? Be sure to share it in our Facebook group or Instagram page.

• We went over the current guild balance. More details can be found in the member drive or speak to the treasurer.
• Our current membership numbers are 205 guildies. WOW!! If you're not a member yet, learn how to join HERE. We love hearing from members any ideas or suggestions for the guild. Please pass your thoughts along to the board.
• Announcements and Reminders:
• Cathy Jones has decided to step down as president at the end of December. We're grateful for her service to the guild.
• Octavia Pitts will step down as Secretary to run for the remainder of Cathy's term.
• All positions are therefore open and any member who has been in the guild at least one year is eligible to run for office.
• Board elections will be held at the November meeting. Candidates will be announced in October. Please contact Lilo if you are interested in running.
• Pam Weske and Annamaria Lu have formed an independent group to create a charity quilt for QuiltCon in the warm colorway. Let them know if you're interested in joining the fun.
• The folks at the Midwest Fiber Festival have invited our members to be a part of their event next spring. Look HERE for more details.
• NO GUILD MEETING IN OCTOBER!!

Activity: A Quilter's Guide to Graphic Design

Rebecca from Bryan House Quilts joined us on Saturday and walked us through the nine elements of graphic design and how we can use these concepts in our quilt designs. Using her own vibrant quilts as examples of each idea, members were given tangible visuals for the abstract aspects of graphic design. Bonus, she rejoined our guild so you can expect to see more of her in the future. Thank you Rebecca!

Committee Updates

• SewMe STL
• All current details can be found HERE. We will continue to update as information becomes available.
• We need volunteers to greet attendees. Sign up HERE.
• Raffle donations are appreciated and can be given to Jennifer Deck, Susan Muszynski, and Jessica Elliston.

• QuiltCon Charity Quilt
• Packets with fabric included were distributed during the meeting.
• Foundation Paper Piecing tutorials can be found HERE and HERE.
• Blocks can be returned as soon as you finish, at SewMe, or by November's meeting at the latest.
• Example of finished quilt:

• Swap and Challenge
• Fabric Placement blocks are due at the November meeting. 
• There may be some prizes, although this is not a contest.
• Official rules can be found HERE.
• Members can follow this path in the Google Drive to find instructions for the blocks: STLMQG Members > Swap/Challenge > 2022
• Charity Committee
• The committee has begun to collect charity quilts and will continue to do so through our November meeting and the SewMe retreat.
• Please attach "STL MQG Cares" label to each quilt.
• The committee has created a comprehensive document in the member drive full of pattern suggestions for those wanting to go a different route then the kit patterns. Quilt parameters are HERE.
• There is still time to complete a quilt for The Women's Safe House and invite you to help us reach our goal.
• Interesting volunteer opportunities have presented themselves at The Women's Safe House. Please see Tess or Candy for more details.

Other Items Covered

• Home Sew Happy Hour: Jump on Zoom September 20 from 6-9pm and get to know other guild members better. 
• This is a casual event where you can come and go as you please.
• Some members have expressed interest in doing this event in person again and are welcome to do so. Let the board know your plans and we'll publicize on social media.
• Block of the Month Winners: Have you joined in the Block of the Month sampler quilt party yet? It's been so fun seeing everyone's take on Instagram. For all the info look HERE. It's not too late to jump in.
• Christine Taour is our winner for August.
• September BOM: Speaking of the block of the month, the next tutorial is live on the blog and we're taking on improv curves. Em takes you through all the steps HERE. 
• Post to Instagram using #stlmqgbom or email a photo before our next meeting to be entered for a prize. 

• Fabric Raffle: Thanks to Cotton Cuts we gave away two FQ bundles of Sublime Summer from Free Spirit fabrics to  Ann Philiph and Kristina Olson. Hooray!
• Hotel Room Raffle: Angie Terry and Carol Taylor each won a one night stay at the Marriott during our Sew Me retreat. Congratulations!
• Show and Share: Our meeting and presentation ran long and we were sorry to miss show and share this month. We will post photos of Rebecca Bryan's quilts this month and hope you will bring your beautiful pieces to the next meeting. Pics are being posted to our Instagram and Facebook pages. Join us there to see pictures of quilts that were shared, and to stay up to date on what's to come this year!

2022 Block of the Month Sampler - September

 

Welcome to Month Nine of the St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild 2022 Block of the Month Sampler! Only 2 months to go (including this one) until we have all the blocks to finish our quilts! I plan to have the last tutorial posted early, by the time we're at SewMe STL in October. I'll also be at the retreat in person if you need to as me (Em Komiskey) any questions. 

Remember to post your block to Instagram with the hashtag #stlmqgbom before the usual October meeting date (no meeting in October) to be entered to win this month's prize. If you don't use Instagram, you may email a photo to the guild email.

This month, we will be making TWO 12.5-inch (unfinished) string blocks! If you've been looking ahead, I originally planned a different block with a similar look, but I didn't like how it was coming out, so I pivoted at the last minute. As a result, the graphic looks slightly different than the block. I'm writing this tutorial with specific widths for the strings, but if you're familiar with this block, you can totally improv it!

CUTTING DIRECTIONS: 

These directions are for ONE 12-inch string x-block. We will need 2 for the final layout of the quilt, so you will need to double the number of cut pieces here, though you may want to make each block a different color. As I mentioned in the intro, you can totally improv this block. 

If you choose to improv, I suggest choosing a constant background color of the same width and then building your strips out from there. Be sure that each section extends beyond a 6.5 inch square. Each of the 2 blocks will be comprised of four (4) 6.5 inch sub-units. 

If you are choosing to make the matched/measured version, here are the measurements I used (reminder: double this for 2 blocks needed): 

Background: (4) 2½ x 9½

Color 1: (8) 1½ x 7½

Color 2: (8) 1¼ x 5¾

Color 3: (8) 2½ x 4¼

SEWING DIRECTIONS: 

1. You will be making 4 identical 6.5 inch sections for each block. Each of the 4 sections will use one background pieces in the center and 2 of each of the 3 different fabrics, decreasing from longest to shortest out from the background. 

Fold each strip in half and either press or finger crease so that you can see the midline. 

2. Lining up the pressed or creased midline of each strip, sew the block together using a scant ¼ inch seam allowance. You will sew the longest strip closest to the center of the sub-unit, and the shortest strip to the outside. 

3. Trim the sub-unit to 6.5 inches. Line up the center of your block with the center of your ruler and use your pressed/creased lines as guidelines to keep your sub-unit square. 

4. Repeat for a total of 4 sub-units. Decided on either an x layout or a diamond layout. Sew the 4 quadrants together. 

5. Repeat all steps to create a second block. 

You're done! Just one month to go!!

Meeting #123 (September 10, 2022)

Summer is winding down. Pumpkin spice is gearing up for it's annual takeover, and National Jelly Roll day is on the horizon. It's the season of the quilter. Here's what to expect at our September meeting.

Date: September 10, 2022
Time: 10 am-12:30 pm
Location: Shrewsbury Center - 5200 Shrewsbury Ave, St. Louis, MO 63119

Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business

• Zoom etiquette
• Financial Information
• Membership Information
• Quilting News/Around Town
• Reminders
• BOM updates
• Committee updates
• Sew Me: Retreat updates
• QuiltCon Charity Quilt: Instructions for participation
• Charity: Reminders
• Swap/Challenge: reminders
• Election announcement: Election is held in November. Submit your name before October meeting. This is a great opportunity to help keep the guild running smoothly.

---Break---

• Pick up QuiltCon Charity Quilt packets
• Ask questions about board positions
• Drop off your charity quilts
• Buy raffle tickets
• Check out library books
• Sign in
• Visit free table

-September Activity - Rebecca Bryan Trunk Show and Presentation

This trunk show will introduce you to the field of graphic design and how you can use ideas from graphic design in your own quilts.  During the trunk show you’ll see the quilts from Rebecca's book Modern Triangle Quilts and how they relate to the field of graphic design. We’ll answer questions like: What is Graphic Design? And discuss common graphic design vocab. You’ll leave the trunk show with fresh ideas to apply to your own work.

-Meeting Wrap-up

• Hotel raffle winner announcement
• Fabric raffle winner announcement - Thank you Cotton Cuts!
• August Block of the Month winner announcement
• Attendance Prizes
• Show & Tell (time permitting)

-------------------------- Reminders ------------------------------

• Drop off your completed charity quilts.
• Post your BOM entries by 11:59 PM this Friday. #stlmqgbom
• Swap/Challenge blocks can be posted with #stlmqgswap22.
• Buy raffle tickets online HERE.
• Wear your name tags.
• Free table items.
• Bring your Show and Share goodies!

Meeting Recap (August 13, 2022)

Inhale...exhale...inhale...exhale...Feel better? Equal parts relaxing and invigorating, chair yoga for quilters was a hit! See what else we got up to at this week's meeting.

Guild Business

• Em (Vice President) ran the meeting today and gave us the details of local events:

• City Sewing Room: T-shirt Quilt Class, Thurs. Oct. 13-Nov. 3 5:30-8:00pm

• PerennialSTL: Intro to Needle Punch, Thurs. Aug. 18 6:00-8:30pm/T-shirt Totes + More, Sat. Aug. 20 10:00am-12:00pm

• Jackman’s: Many upcoming quilting and quilting adjacent classes.

• Alison Glass/Giucy Giuce mini series SAL begins September 1.

• Gail (Treasurer) went over the guild's finances and our current membership numbers. We have a roster of 193 members! WOW!! If you're not a member yet, learn how to join HERE.
• Announcements and Reminders:
• Board elections will be held at the November meeting. We have openings for Vice President and Treasurer. Please contact Lilo if you are interested in running.
• A group of members has been formed to head up the guild's QuiltCon charity quilt entry. Watch your email for more details coming soon.
• If you are not familiar with City Sewing Room and their sister site SewHope STL, these are great places to learn new skills and acquire fabric, notions, tools, etc. for bargain bin prices. Check them out HERE and HERE.
• DON'T FORGET!! Registration for QuiltCon starts today!

Activity: Chair Yoga for Quilters

Lisa from Urban Breath Yoga led a room full of our members through some gentle and refreshing exercises, right in our chairs. Her cheerful guidance helped us release built up tension in our necks, shoulders, backs, knees, wrists, and legs; all places quilters need to stretch throughout an intense sewing session. She couldn't believe we'd stay up until midnight to quilt at the SewMe retreat. Good thing she joined us today! You can look up "chair yoga for quilters" on YouTube or Google for instructional videos. Thank you Lisa!

Committee Updates

• Quilt Show
• The Quilt Show committee gave a follow up of our first quilt show event in several years.
• 770 people attended the show.
• Food Bank donation from the raffle quilt = $947.
• Net cost to the guild = $900.
• Thank you to all the show volunteers and members who publicized our show.
• Thank you to the quilt show committee and Marie Hill for your print services.

• SewMe STL
• All current details can be found HERE. We will continue to update as information becomes available.
• Registration opens to members Thursday, August 18 at 8PM via email.
• We are limited to 100 attendees and do expect this event to sell out, however we will have a waiting list.
• Cost is $35/day and you can attend the entire weekend, or just choose one or two days of participation.
• Commemorative t-shirts will be available for $10 and are optional.
• We need volunteers to greet attendees. Sign up will be sent after registration.
• Raffle donations are appreciated and can be given to Jennifer Deck, Susan Muszynski, and Jessica Elliston.
• Watch your email for the registration link!!

• Charity
• Guild members have been invited to attend the Empowering Women Gala put on by our charity partners, The Women's Safe House. More info can be found HERE. Donations are also welcome.
• The committee has begun to collect charity quilts and will continue to do so through our November meeting and the SewMe retreat.
• Please attach "STL MQG Cares" label to each quilt.
• The committee has created a comprehensive document in the member drive full of pattern suggestions for those wanting to go a different route then the kit patterns. Quilt parameters are HERE.
• There is still time to complete a quilt for The Women's Safe House and invite you to help us reach our goal.

• Swap and Challenge
• Fabric Placement blocks are due at the November meeting. 
• There may be some prizes, although this is not a contest.
• Official rules can be found HERE.
• Members can follow this path in the Google Drive to find instructions for the blocks: STLMQG Members > Swap/Challenge > 2022

Other Items Covered

• Home Sew Happy Hour: Jump on Zoom August 16 from 6-9pm and get to know other guild members better. 
• This is a casual event where you can come and go as you please.
• Some members have expressed interest in doing this event in person again and are welcome to do so. Let the board know your plans and we'll publicize on social media.
• Block of the Month Winners: Have you joined in the Block of the Month sampler quilt party yet? It's been so fun seeing everyone's take on Instagram. For all the info look HERE. It's not too late to jump in.
• Linda Kocher is our winner for June's entry.
• Joan Miller is the winner for July's block.
• August BOM: Speaking of the block of the month, the next tutorial is live on the blog and we're taking on improv curves. Em takes you through all the steps HERE. 
• Post to Instagram using #stlmqgbom or email a photo before our next meeting to be entered for a prize. 

• Fabric Raffle: Thanks to Cotton Cuts we gave away two FQ bundles of Sublime Summer from Free Spirit fabrics to Robyn Passig and Carol Schmidt. Hooray!
• Show and Share: We wrapped up the meeting with another great Show and Tell. Pics are being posted to our Instagram and Facebook pages. Join us there to see pictures of quilts that were shared, and to stay up to date on what's to come this year!

2022 Block of the Month Sampler - August

 Welcome to Month Eight of the St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild 2022 Block of the Month Sampler! Only 3 months to go (including this one) until we have all the blocks to finish our quilts!

Remember to post your block to Instagram with the hashtag #stlmqgbom before the September meeting to be entered to win this month's prize. If you don't use Instagram, you may email a photo to the guild email.

This month, we will be making TWO 12.5-inch (unfinished) improv CURVE blocks!

CUTTING DIRECTIONS: 

Cut 2 squares of fabric, about 15 inches each. Why so much bigger than our unfinished block size of 12.5 inches? The thing to remember when you're sewing in an improvisational or unstructured way is that seam allowances are not included! Thus, we need to add in extra room in our blocks to accommodate the fabric that will be in the seam allowance. 

Note: I originally cut my blocks at 14 inches. Reach on to find out why this didn't work out and how I solved the problem! 

Stack your squares on top of one another and use a rotary cutter to make one more gentle curves through both layers of fabric. 

Gentle curves will be easier to sew than sharper/steeper curves. 

Single direction curves will be easier to sew than multi-directional curves. What do I mean by that? Take a look at my middle cut in the image above. From the bottom, the cut begins curving to the right, but then I cut so it turns slightly back to the left. 

SEWING DIRECTIONS

Begin by marking the approximate mid-point of each of your curves on both sides of your cut. Mark both pieces of fabric in the SAME PLACE! (See how I've flipped back the top fabric to mark the fabric underneath in the same place?) If your cut is more or less straight before it begins to curve, you will mark the mid point of the curved part of the cut only. 

Rearrange your fabric pieces so that your two colors/prints are mixed up. 

Flip one piece of fabric so that it is right sides together with the adjacent piece of the same curve. Pin at the place you marked. 

I only use one pin to sew these curves. If you like, you can ease the seam together and use 57 pins to keep it together. It's your quilt; do what works for you!

If you're just using one pin, use your hands to ease the two edges even around the curve on one side of the pin until you get to the point where you will start sewing. You match your edges so that you can determine where you will start sewing because the fabric will not be even after it is sewn. There is fabric along the curve that will disappear into the seam allowance. 

Carefully sew along the curve, matching your edges as you go. 

I will post a video of this on https://www.instagram.com/stlmqg/

Press to one side. I like to press on the back, then flip and press on the front. I like to place the thumb and first finger of my free hand on each side of the seam as a press to make sure the seam along the curve is open all the way as I press. 

Repeat with your remaining curves. 

Trim to 12.5 inches. If you started with a large enough piece of fabric, you're done! Yay! Way to go!

My finished block was not large enough to trim to 12.5 inches. Oh no! I thought that starting with fabric 1.5 inches larger would leave plenty of room for seam allowance. This would have worked if I would have had fewer curves, or if my curves were less curvy. It's okay, though, because this is improv. So let's fix it. 

I'm going to add on one more curve, with this green to bring my block up to size. 

Layer the fabric for the next curve under your other piece, leaving enough room to account for the seam allowance. The ruler marks the edge of the fabric underneath because the full curve must be cut through both pieces of fabric. 

Using a rotary cutter, cut a gentle curve through both pieces of fabric. 

As before, mark the approximate mid-point of the curve on both sides of the cut. Flip the two pieces right sides together, pinning at the mark. Ease around the edge to find the point where you will begin sewing, then carefully sew around the curve. 

Hooray! My block is now large enough to trim to 12.5 inches! 

My second block was also just a little too small. I used the piece I cut off the first block when I added the green to make my second block a little bit larger. 

Two finished improv curve blocks!!