Ricky's Rules for Free-Form Rotary Cutting Safety

• On a large cutting mat, layer the Chantelle petal fabric and background fabric, right side up, on top of each other.
• Using your rotary cutter, roughly cut a square of approximately 8". Cut through both layers. Don't use your ruler! Avoid perfectly straight lines and exact measurements. Cut gentle arcs, not deep curves.

• Make a cut slightly left of center vertically through the square. Separate the two stacks of fabric.

• Working with the left stack, make two more cuts in the order shown. Label the pieces A, B and C and return them to their positions in the layout.

• Working with the right stack, make three cuts, as shown. Label them D, E, F and G and return them to their positions.

• You have just cut two blocks simultaneously. Separate the two layers of pieces. Lay out pieces A, D and F from the Chantelle flower fabric and pieces B, C, E and G from the background fabric. Set the remaining pieces aside for use in another project.

• Turn A over into B, right sides together. Offset the pieces to create a vortex, as shown.

• Using a narrow (approximately 1/8" to 3/16") seam allowance, begin stitching at the vortex. Alight the edges of the curve as you stitch. There is no need to pin. NOTE: The narrow seam allowance is vital for this method and is adequate for a wall quilt.

• Steam press, mushing the unit flat. NOTE: Because we are not allowing for a seam allowance during cutting, there will be excess fabric at the end of the seam. The excess will be trimmed away in the next step. Steam pressing may slightly alter your curves. This is normal and to be expected when using this technique. When you position the next piece for use as a guide to trim away the excess seam, you can make small adjustments to the curve, as desired.

• Return the AB unit to the layout. Piece C will overlap the excess seam allowance. Use your rotary cutter to trim away the excess fabric of the AB unit using the edge of C as your guide.

• Position C right sides together on the AB unit, creating a vortex, as before. Stitch, using a narrow seam allowance. Steam press the seam. Once again, after sewing, the ends of the pieces will not be aligned. Do not trim at this point.

• Stitch the right sides of the Chantelle flower in this order: D to E; the DE unit to F; the DEF unit to G, steam pressing after each new seam is sewn and using the next piece to be added as a trimming guide.
• Lay the left and right units side by side, right sides up. Choose one unit and trim the inside edge as needed to create a smooth curve. Return it to the layout overlapping it slightly on top of the other unit.
• Using the newly trimmed edge as a guide, reshape the underneath unit by overlapping it and trimming away the excess seam allowance, as before.

• Sew the units together, as before, and steam press. Leave the outside edges untrimmed. The Chantelle flower is complete.

• Layer the Chantelle stem and leaf fabric on the remaining background fabric, right sides up.
• Lay your Chantelle flower near the top of the fabric stack to use as a cutting guide. Cut a rectangle from the layered fabrics approximately 2" wider than the flower and as long as you want the flower stem and leaves to be.

• Cut the stem through both layers of the rectangle as you did for the flower. It should meet the flower and not go off to one side and should be narrower than the base of the flower. The stem should be approximately 3/8" wider than you wish it to appear in the quilt.

• Cut the leaves in the same manner, as shown.

• Separate the stacked pieces. Return the Chantelle stem and leaves and background pieces to the layout. Set the remaining pieces aside to be used in another project.

• Stitch the right and left leaf sections, as shown, in a similar manner to the Chantelle flower. Remember to use the smooth edge of the new piece as your cutting guide each time you trim. NOTE: If either the Chantelle Flower section of the Leaf and Stem section is much wider than the other, use of these two methods to solve the problem: 1) Trim the wider unit, or 2) add more background fabric to the smaller unit.

• Trim the top edge of the stem and leaf section. Place it right side up, slightly overlapping the Chantelle flower and having the stem edge meeting the base of the flower. Using the top edge of the stem and leaf section as your guide, trim the lower edge of the Chantelle flower.

• Join the two units. Steam press the finished top.
• Trim the edges of the Chantelle top. It is okay to make round points or to create undulating curves on the edges.

• Cut 2 strips of the inner border fabric about 2 1/2" to 3"-wide and as long as each side of the Chantelle top.
• Lay the quilt top, right side up, so that it overlaps the border strips. Trim the border strips to match the curves along the edge, as shown.

• Stitch an inner border to each long side of the quilt, using a narrow seam allowance, as before. Steam press.
• Cut 2 strips 2 1/2" to 3"-wide and as long as the width of your quilt top. Overlap, trim, and stitch them to the top and bottom of the quilt, as before. Steam press.
• Repeat these steps for the outer border using 4" to 5"-wide strips, referring to the quilt photo above as necessary. Add as many borders as desired, leaving the outer edges curvy or straight.
• Quilt and bind as desired.