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Tula Pink Sew Along: Cartwheels

This post is part of the Tula Pink Sew Along!
For full schedule of guest post quilt pattern reviews, discounts, and prizes, click here!

Tula Pink Sew Along
Today’s guest post is from Beth at Plum and June. You can see some of Beth’s other quilted projects and tutorials up at her blog!!

I’m so excited for my day on the Sew Sweetness Tula Pink Sew Along.  I want to thank Sara for organizing this sew along and for letting me take part.  It has been so fun to see all of the quilts and read all the stories and reviews.

The quilt that I made used Tula Pink’s Cartwheels pattern.  Now, I have to tell you – I did not choose this pattern (I was a latecomer to this sew along) and I would have never picked this one BUT I am so happy this was the one that I ended up with!  So, why wouldn’t I have picked this?  Two reasons:  Curves and Templates!  Sure, I’ve sewn circles and appliqued various shapes before but I’ve never pieced curves – well, at least not successfully.  And templates?!?  I didn’t even know where to get template plastic.

Well, this pattern definitely challenged me!  So much so that I have two mini’s to show as opposed to a whole quilt.  My first attempt was the rainbow mini above – my original intent was to make 6 of these blocks for the quilt but as you can see, I had some issues so I decided to make this block a mini and start again.  This is not indicative at all of Tula’s pattern – this is total user error! 

Despite the obvious mistakes with this block, I love this mini!  I think my mistake started right at the beginning – I am not much of a precision quilter and so I think I didn’t cut my fabrics very well.  However, Tula’s pattern actually makes it so easy to make perfect cuts.  She tells you exactly how to cut the fabrics with such clever ideas for how to make the most of each piece – so again, user error!  Second, the curves just got away from me.  So, like I said, I turned the block into a mini and decided to start again.  However, I figured I’d make a practice block/mini first.

This time around, I was way more careful with cutting the fabrics – following Tula’s instructions exactly.  What a difference!!!  My sections are still a bit off but that must have happened when piecing the curves.   I was going to add some hand stitching to this one too but opted instead to break out the Aurifil 40wt and experiment with FMQ.

Like I said, I would have never chosen this pattern but I am so happy to have been given this challenge!  I now know that not only is piecing curves achievable but I actually enjoyed the process.  I’m not sure I’ll be running to find more templates to use but this was a great learning process and it really made me think about how to more efficiently prepare my fabrics for cutting.  
The Cartwheels pattern is great – short, sweet, and to the point – Tula tells you what sizes to cut your fabrics, she tells where to place your templates on the fabrics before cutting, she even tells you which way to press your seams – all with very clear diagrams.  I don’t really know how to rate this pattern – I would consider myself a confident beginner and I found it challenging but mostly because I am new to curves and I’m not much of a precision quilter.  For someone who has conquered curves and is good at matching seams, I think this pattern would be quick and easy – especially if you follow Tula’s instructions better than I did.

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8 thoughts on “Tula Pink Sew Along: Cartwheels

  1. Marla says:

    These would make great pillows.

  2. Wow Beth
    I really love both your minis.
    They are just lovely {user errors and all}. In fact I think they are charming.

  3. Judith says:

    Beautiful pillows! Errors, I thought it was suppose to look this charming. Amazaing fabric! Thanks for sharing…Judith, Texas

  4. Kelly says:

    They both look fantastic Beth!!

  5. Absolutely love these minis. So well done!

  6. Melissa says:

    Great review and I love both of your pieces! They are lovely!

  7. Jennie says:

    Yes – I see the error – but I didn’t to start with – I love both. Normally I go for rainbows, but my favourite is actually the blue one – gorgeous!!! Tempted with this pattern now!

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