Orange Peel Quilt Tricks

These tricks are to go along with my tutorial on how to make a Quilt-as-you-go Orange Peel Quilt.

Keep Reading to learn how to make these circles out of scraps of fabric built together in a smarty pants fashion…

If you’re like me, then you hoard scraps.   I love my scrappy scraps.   For my version of this quilt I had some great purple fabrics that were just a tiny bit too small for my circle pattern.  Did I let that stop me?  Heck no!  I knew that I had enough of the fabric to cover the center of the circle – what would be showing after I folded all the edges down.   So I tacked on a couple of strips of fabric to the top and bottom of my scrappy rectangle swatch.

I picked strips that were close in color to the rectangle (because you never know – they might peak out a little bit).  I also ensured that I would place this block in the center of the quilt – not on an edge.  I knew it would be best to make it a block that had all four edges folded over, you see?  Covering up my shame.

Let’s say you have some scrappy scraps that you want to use but only enough to make half of your circle pattern.  If you have enough to make two halves (plus a little seam allowance), you can make a whole.  Following a straight edge, sew the two pieces together.  Then trace your circle on the patched together fabric, ensuring that your seam bi-sects the circle perfectly.

If you do this trick, you have to be super smart or at least sober.   You’ve got a lot of things to keep track of (dangling modifierSssszzz).  You have to be sure that you put your slit in a smart place so that the seam of the patched together fabric can be one of the arms of the X.   Makey sense?

Use your scraps!  You’re hoarding them for a reason.