Lots and lots of Circles!!

I decided to make a quilt that I've been wanting to make for a really long time.  It's called a "Less Than Traditional" quilt or more commonly called "Cathedral Windows".  Basically, you make a whole bunch of circles and once they're assembled the quilt is done.

Here is my box of circles.  They're a random assortment of Asian fabrics all backed with a purple batik.

Notice the white basting stitch around the edge of each one?  You sew the fabrics together, (right sides matching) and then turn the circles right side out.  Then you smooth the outer edge and put in a long basting stitch to keep the edges flat and keep the fabrics from turning to one side or the other.

One of the reasons I decided to do this project was that I could turn and stitch the circles during my lunch hour.  I worked on them on a recent plane trip to and from Hawaii and from there on my lunch hours.  I'm all done now and I have 96 circles. 

You assemble the circles in units of four.  Here is one of my units.  
 I've seen the Less Than Traditional technique at many shows.  The first time I saw it was when I went to the Paducah, KY show.  (It was AWESOME, by the way!)  :)

The author's website is Quilting With Charlie if you'd like to check out the technique. 

Here is the biggest section I have so far.  It is a combination of 4 segments made up of 4 circles each (for a total of 16 circles).

 Here's the thing I'm not liking.  When the segments of four come together, the area where the stitching meets is pretty stiff.  Not sure what I'm doing wrong...but I really do like the overall look. 

It was a good way to use up all of those Asian fat quarters!!  I'll keep plugging away at it.

Thanks for stopping by!  Heather  :)

Comments

[D. Weber]

Ohhh, I love this one. I love how the purple leaflets really stand out! Beautiful!

[Heather]

It does work out pretty cool in the end. Thanks for telling me what you think!

[Justin Der]

i love this design! so did you purchase (or really, would i need to purchase) all the templates and starter set from the less than traditional site? i love the concept and the way these work, but it seems like a big investment upfront for a scrap quilt.

[Apassionatequilter.blogspot.com]

Hi Justin,
Good question! So, thinking about it I would say that you definitely need the main book and whatever size plastic templates you would need for the quilt (small, medium or large). They're a very thin plastic, not what you think of when you think of the hard plastic rulers used for rotary cutting.
There are two soft, plastic templates. One is the circle and the other is a square used for identifying the stitching line.
Other than that, I don't think you would NEED the other products. They have some other things that help with the process but overall, that's all you would need to complete the process.
BTW, their process involves a LOT of pinning to keep the fabric from puckering. I'm not a huge pinner so I have bypassed some of this and feel like the finished product is still fine but depending on your experience level and what you want for your finished product, just be aware that this is part of the directions. :)
Hope this helped!
Heather