7. Quilt Circles in a 9 Patch Block

It’s time to quilt circles! Circles are a fun shape to master in free motion, and they certainly add a unique, eye-catching texture to your quilts. Check out all the circles filling our 9 patch block and see how they’ve transformed the simple design:

Just in case you’re looking for the quilting guide to mark your block, you can find it in the Building Blocks Quilt Pattern right here.

However, marking these circles accurately can be a challenge. We have a lot of seam allowances all pressed open on the back side of the block which can create more shadows and make marking more difficult.

So instead of using my light box, I marked using my Fons & Porter marking pencil and a drafting circle template like this:

You can find templates like this in any office supply store – just look in the drafting section. I love collecting these templates and using them to mark from the surface of the quilt.

NEW! You can also mark this block using the new stencil created by Quilting Creations International. Use the stencil to easily mark the design on plain fabric, your block, or another fun quilt you’re working on! Click here to find the 8 inch stencil compatible with the Building Blocks Quilt.

However, it is possible to free-hand quilt these circles too – that’s quilting without marking the actual shape. In this situation I marked simple lines on the block to create a visual guide for the space the circle should fit. It’s a little less fiddly than marking the actual circle shape, though you may end up with some less-than-perfect circles.

But I also have a fix for that too! Watch the video to see what I mean:

I think my new mantra for this quilt along is Don’t Obsess About It. It’s easy to get obsessive about every little mistake and every little missed stitch or wobbly line.

Many of my circles were more oval than circular. My big circle was a bit more wobbly than I would have liked. But was the way I was quilting that day and I’m not going to obsess about these tiny details.

And trust me, if you think you’re hard on yourself, just try quilting this on video and talking at the same time, then having 5000 people watch the video and potentially criticize your work! I’ve had to learn the hard way that obsessing about the little things is a waste of my time.

Instead I look for ways to hide the worst mistakes, like filling them with the small open spirals. Adding this little detail will transform a totally wobbly circle into a beautiful spiral, and make it even more uniquely yours.

Yes, UNIQUE – not perfect, not exactly matching the quilting guide, but a unique, one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-recreated version made by the awesomely talented, terrific quilter – YOU!

If you get too hard on yourself about this stuff, it’s easy to miss the point of making the quilt: to have fun, to learn something new, to pass down a piece of yourself to your kids or grand-kids.

Because quilts last! I have quilts in my closet made by great-grandmothers I never met. They are not in any way perfect – large chunky stitches, lumpy places in the batting, messy bound edges – but they mean more to me BECAUSE they are imperfect.

It shows that a real person made these quilts, not a machine, not a computer, but a real person that was somehow related to me, and I still own a piece of her, something she touched and created and hopefully had fun making.

So please remember that perfection isn’t the point of this exercise. Try to find the fun in this learning experience instead of judgement and criticism. Quilt with joy!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day