To really cut my teeth on curves, I worked on a block which is 4.5" finished with eight curved seams. Here's how to make it. You'll need a compass, a piece of graph paper, a ruler and a pencil, some template material (I like mylar sheets.), a marking pen (for the template material), a chalk pencil (for the fabric), colored fabric and muslin, scissors, rotary cutter, cutting mat, and thread and a sewing machine.
On the graph paper, draw a 3x3 grid of 2" squares. Starting from the left-most vertical line, label the lines A, B, C, and D. Starting from the top horizontal line, label the lines 1, 2, 3, and 4. Set your compass to draw 2 1/4" circles. Place the point of the compass on B-3 and draw a circle. Set your point on C-2 and draw a circle. Cut out the square which is defined by B-2, C-2, C-3 and B-3. Cut out the three pieces of that square. There should be two quarter circles (call them piece one) and one funny shaped piece (piece two). Throw away one of piece ones. Trace the remaining two pieces onto the template material. Draw an exact 1/4" seam allowance around the pieces which you just traced onto the template material. Cut out the templates.
To make the block, you will need eight piece ones, of the colored fabric, and four piece twos, of the muslin. Trace the pieces onto the back sides of the fabric. When you cut the pieces out, cut on the inside of the chalk lines. If you are off by so much as an eighth of an inch on each piece, your block will be at least 1/4" off in the end. Also, with curved pieces, precision is crucial to make the pieces fit.
Hold a piece two in your hand. Put the opposite, 90 degree corners together, right sides together, and pinch in the middle of the curve to make a slight crease. Take a piece one, and fold it in half, making the 90 degree corner a 45 degree corner, with the wrong sides together. Pinch the curve to make a slight crease. Nestle the crease of the piece one in the crease of the piece two,right sides together, the curves together. Pin on the crease, with the pin in the crease, perpendicular to where the seam will be.
Next, pull the flat sides of the piece together on one side; pin parallel to the flat sides. Do the same on the other side. You should now have three pin heads along the curve, and if you put the piece on a table, it will curl up.
Adjust your sewing machine's stitch length so that it will make about 25 stitches per inch (the same as for paper piecing). This makes the curve smoother. Carefully sew around the curve, with piece one on top, matching the edges. Don't worry about crease, nips and tucks until you've folded the pieces out so that they lie flat. Now you can see what, if anything, needs to be redone. Usually, if there are nips and tucks it is because the seam allowance suddenly got smaller or larger, or because part of the patch got caught in the seam.
One down, eight to go! You don't really need to iron the patches until all eight curved seams are pieced. Once you have your four little squares, sew them together so that there is a colored circle in the middle of the block.
Rotary cut four strips, 6" x 1 1/4". Sew the border strips to your square; iron, then square up, cutting 2 1/2" in all four directions from the center line of the squares. All done!
I hope to add diagrams to the website soon.
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