Many blocks have the orange peel and/or the center patch as part of their design . Learning to draw the shapes in Figure 1 will assist you in drawing many different pieced and applique blocks. Not only are the shapes and portions of the shapes useful but the concept used in drawing them will prove useful in drawing the examples below.

• To draft the shapes shown in Figure 1, we will draw a 90 degree arc with the Bezier Curve tool.
  • This does not give us as perfect a circle as the Postage stamp tool we drew from Tip 1, but the Patch Stamp is some times hard to join in this configuration so we are drafting the shapes separately.
• We will draw the center, followed by the four orange peel shaped pieces.

1. In the Block menu select New.

2. In the Options menu select Screen Setting.

• Configure as shown in Figure 2.
  
• Click OK.

3. In the Tools Menu, select the Snap-to-Grid option .

Instructions for drawing 90 degree arc.

From experimentation I have determined that to draw one quarter of a circle,(90 degree arc) in Quilt Pro using the Bezier Curve tool, one should use approximately a 2 to 1 ratio of vertical to horizontal measurement as shown in Figure 3.


Figure 3: Tagged Workspace
(create tags with small triangles for reference points, see Tip 7 for additional information about creating tags and the reasoning behind them.)

Tag placement is a 2 to 1 ratio.
a. 2 ¾" vertical
b. 1 3/8" horizontal.

Select the Bezier curve tool from the Tool Bar and draw an arc by connecting the three points:

• Starting at upper right, then to the middle, and lastly to the bottom right as shown in Figure 4a.
• Figure 4b shows the completed curve.

Delete Triangles from workspace, they will not be needed again.

a. Click on (select tool) in Tool Bar. Cursor changes to (select tool) on Main Screen.
b. Click on triangle to delete and hit the keyboard Delete Key.

To prepare to complete the patch, move Curve to far right of the workspace.

a. Click on (select tool) in Tool Bar. Cursor changes to (select tool) on Main Screen.
b. To move Curve, click center of curve with . Release Mouse, cursor turns to (move tool) and black nodes and dashed lines appear around selected.
c. Click curve with (move tool), keeping mouse button held down, drag Curve/hand to new position.
d. Release Mouse, Curve appears in new position.
NOTE: This is your original curve do not use it except to make duplicates.

Instructions for drawing center shape.

1. Duplicate the Curve you have moved to the far right.

a. Click on (select tool) in Tool Bar. Cursor changes to (select tool) on Main Screen.
b. In the Edit menu select Duplicate.
Or use the keyboard short cut keys Ctrl + D.

2. Move duplicate to the left side of workspace and flip horizontal. To complete:

a. Click on (select tool) in Tool Bar. Cursor changes to (select tool) on Main Screen.

b. To move Curve, click center of curve with . Release Mouse, cursor turns to (move tool) and black nodes and dashed lines appear around selected.
c. Click curve with (move tool), keeping mouse button held down, drag Curve/hand to new position.

d. Release Mouse, Curve appears in new position.
NOTE: You will need at least 6 grid squares to the left of the curve to position the left orange peel when it is drawn later.

3. Duplicate curve again. (refer above if needed)

4. Rotate right and align curve tips as shown in Figure 6.

5. Now we will create the center patch from the 4 curves. See Figure 7.

a. Create the other sides:
b. Duplicate curve again
c. Undo Snap-to-grid. Rotate the curve right and position curve on right side of patch aligning tips at upper right.
d. Duplicate curve again
e. Rotate right and position the bottom curve. Align all tips.

6.To create the center patch, join all the curves .

a. Select the curves:

• Click on (select tool) in Tool Bar. Cursor changes to (select tool) on Main Screen.
• Drag the cursor over the 4 curves. A dashed line with black nodes will appear around all 4 curves, this indicates that they are selected.

b. To create the patch, go to the Effects menu and select Join. Or use the keyboard shortcut keys (Ctrl+J). See Figure 8. Completed center patch

Complete the outside curves shown in Figure 9. NOTE: There are 2 curves forming the orange peel.

1. To begin: Select the Snap-to-Grid in the Tool Bar.

2. Select the original curve we placed on the right side of the workspace (if needed, refer above.)

3. In the Edit menu select Duplicate or use the keyboard shortcut keys Ctrl+D. (if needed, refer above.)

4. Position duplicate curve on top of center patch right curve. See Figure 9 above.
5. In the Edit menu select Duplicate and flip the curve horizontal.

6. Position the curve to form the right orange peel. See Figure 9 above.

7. Select the last two curves that will form the right orange peel (instructions above if needed)

8. To complete the orange peel patch, in the Effects menu select Join (instructions above if needed.) See Figure 10.

To complete the last 3 organge peel patches.

1. Select the right orange peel patch.

2. In the Edit menu select Duplicate.

3. Rotate right the duplicate orange peel and position along the bottom of the center patch.

4. Repeat step 1-3 above for Left and Top Patch. Release the Snap-to-Grid if needed. Completed block will be shaped look like this one.

Before saving the Block, clean up the Workspace by deleting the original curve.

1. Select the original curve at the top right on the screen.

2. Hit the keyboard Delete Key.

To save the Orange Peel block to the Block Library:

1. Go to the Block Menu and select Save As. The Block Save As dialogue box opens.

2. Select Folder choice or create a new folder.

3. Type Block Name in File Name Section.

4. Click

To e-mail Frank with a thank you, click here
About the author of the Quilt-Pro Series, Frank Smith

Drafting Complex Blocks in Quilt-Pro, a series of articles by Frank Smith.
	Draft 1: Draft this complex block using 2 grid types.
	Draft 2: Draft the Orange Peel Block. This drafting lesson will assist you with similar blocks found in the Dear Jane Quilt.
	Draft 3: Drafting a Block/Pattern in Quilt Pro from another source like a book This drafting lesson will assit you in drafting geometric blocks.