Welcome to my first video tutorial, in which I talk entirely too much, say a lot of “um” and “like,” and generally bumble through showing you how to sew quarter circle curves without the use of pins. Moons Akimbo, releasing July 8th, includes a lot of these curves, and I sew them all using this no-pins technique. If you want to try this technique, or are new to curves in general, this pattern will be a great place to start! The pattern will include instructions for sewing the curves using pins, so if you’d prefer to use pins that is just groovy too.

I am very far away from the first person to use this technique! The first time I tried it was following instructions that came with the QCR (Quick Curve Ruler) Mini by Sew Kind of Wonderful. This is a really great little ruler for cutting a squaring up, and there are lots of super cute patterns that use it. The ruler is gentle and great for patterns designed specifically for it, but it is something like a proprietary curve. I have been practicing sewing a lot of different curves without pins since then, and dabbling a very little into improvisational curved piecing after reading Karla Alexander’s book Dynamic Quilts with Easy Curves that uses her stack, cut, and shuffle technique. For quilt artists doing really really fun things with curves in various techniques, check out Sheila Frampton-Cooper, Karla Alexander, and Jo Avery for a start. There are many others!