Quilt by the Numbers - Circle FMQ begun

I have worked finally up the courage and emerged from my analysis paralysis to begin the FMQ on my quilt from the Zen Chic Figures fabric and Kira pattern from my previous post (4/5/22). What follows might not make sense if you have not read my previous post so let me at least repeat my terminology and the quilting pattern for a circular half of a quadrant.

After having completed one concentric circles quartet and partially muddling through a second concentric circles quartet, I have already learned a lot. Fabric does not have the precision of lines on paper. My brain knows this, but in my heart of hearts, I guess I acted as if this were not true. As I suspected, it is difficult to hold the arc rulers in place, especially the larger ones, even though I covered them with loads of sandpaper grips. What I did not anticipate is that a little bit of slippage changes the gap between concentric circles enough that the smaller chain of circles sandwiched in between sometimes extends beyond the boundaries. The 12" diameter outermost circle and the next smaller 9" diameter circle, even though they enclose a 1.5" channel are not aligned well enough, to contain the chain of spheres more fully. As I get better at holding the large arcs more securely, I am hoping they will be more aligned. Fortunately, the problem of the circles overhanging the channel edges gets less severe toward the center of the quartet. The smaller arc rulers are easier to hold and there is less distance for the fabric to stretch. I was still, however, successful in fitting in 5½" circles per ¼ quadrant, 22 circles per quartet. Following are closeups of the top half and the bottom half of the outer ring of one quartet in process.

My second lesson learned is that I need to pay more attention and follow my diagrams. In the following photo the seam ripper points to a circle that is at 3" diameter when it should have been 4". Then I wrongly proceeded to place the 1" dimeter circles inward of the line instead of outward. They should be in the ring formed between the 6" diameter and a 4" diameter circle. I caught my error when I realized that sixteen 1" circles would not fit where I was putting them. As usual, it takes a lot more time and effort to pick out a stitching error than it does to create it. I goofed this way twice! But I persevered more carefully. I did have to spend time and effort picking out this goof since there was no way to recover from it and it was so obvious. I keep saying to my husband,  "I'm learning... I'm learning..." He replies, "Are you learning not to do this design again?" 

I want to capture what I have been learning. In stitching the large concentric circles I found that although the template is for half a circle, it is easier to just concentrate on a quarter of a circle at one time, in particular the center 90°. I concentrated on holding only half of the arc steady at a time, 90°,  and adjusting at four points on the completed circle. In the next two photos, I line up the registration scribe lines on the template (marked with orange tabs), with the central vertical and central  horizontal seams of the quarter. The unused section on either side provide good handles for holding the template in place, necessary even with all the radial strips of sandpaper grips I have added.  The first picture is for the 12" diameter, but even with the 6" diameter of the second photo I found this to be true. I could adjust the angle at four points and achieve a smooth transition at those junctures instead of trying to place a half where one size fits all perfectly. It doesn't. I've learned adjusting is not a crime nor an admission of failure; it is a sensible source of flexibility. 

One thing I have learned about that chain of twenty-two 1.5" circles sandwiched between the 12" and 10" diameter circles and that chain of sixteen 1.0" circles sandwiched between the 6" and 4" circles is that they do not always turn out to be exactly 22 or 16. Realistically, when I think about it, even if my spacing is off by only 1/16" per circle on that inner channel, with 16 circles that adds up to an inch or an entire circle! I have learned that fudging is my friend. At each seam line I adjust to enclose four 1" circles or five-and-a-half 1.5" circles per my diagram. If the circles within each channel overlap a tiny bit or space out a tiny bit, I keep telling myself it looks "organic" and that I like that look. I have complete all sixteen circle quartets and I did improve. Here are the tenth and eleventh quartets I sewed. I chose to photograph these particular two since the turquoise thread color contrasts enough to show the stitching. Also the blue quartet shows off the figures that I so like printed on the fabric. I succeeded in enclosing 22 circles in the outer ring and 16 circles in the inner ring on fifteen of the sixteen quartets. I am not revealing which of the sixteen quartets is amiss and I am not picking it out either. I'd rather spend my time learning get better at quilting and not better at picking out. It can remain a challenge for those looking at the quilt to find the anomaly.

I did improve my template wielding skill and my fudging capability. I decided to do all the circle quartets first before proceeding with the diamond quartets. I reasoned that the diamonds will be easier since they are straight lines rather than arcs. I am soon to learn if this is true.