Thanks to Kaffe Fassett’s Museum Quilts (2005) and the wonderful new book from the V&A, two very dear Inklingo friends recently requested Clamshells. Luckily, I had done quite a bit of work on a Clamshell shape collection more than a year ago, so I was able to make it happen.
Inklingo is ideal for preparing Clamshell shapes.
With the cutting lines, stitching lines, crosshairs, and matching marks printed on the fabric with Inklingo, you can prepare the shapes more quickly and easily than with any other method. Not only that, but you can cut with a 28 mm rotary cutter OR with scissors, and you can hand piece OR machine piece. Read all about it on Clamshell page!
We should have been working on video scripts when we were getting this ready. There is still time to let us know if there is anything special you would like to see demonstrated, okay?
Thank you for visiting!
Linda & Monkey
Thanks to both you and my dear friend Frummie I have this collection…. I also happen to have that particular Kaffe Fassett book. Now to figure what fabric I’m going to use… hmmmm?? Think I’ll have to go shopping :)) hugs
Ellyx
http://www.leehaven.com/2010/06/clamshells.html
Hi Sue,
I cut the rows apart (indicated by the red line) with a 28 mm rotary cutter. My usual 45 mm cutter is too big. For the tight concave curves, I make sure I am always rotary cutting away from a T-junction. It is necessary to go slower than normal, but it is still faster and smoother than cutting with scissors. The second Clamshell layout is easier for rotary cutting, but it uses more fabric.
My best tip for cutting curves is to focus your eye AHEAD of the blade, not where you are. It is like driving a car–look down the road, not at the hood ornament. (This tip applies whether you are using scissors or a rotary cutter.) One of the things I intend to demo in the new Inklingo videos is cutting curves with Inklingo. It's fantastic.
Good question! Linda & Monkey
I can't picture cutting this shape out with a rotary cutter. Is there a demo somewhere of cutting out a shape with a tight curve like this with a rotary cutter?