In My Beginning

I have a quilt on my bed that often reminds me of my Aunt Stacie. The first time I met Aunt Stacie was in 1967. This was Canada's centenary and my parents and I travelled across Canada from the west coast to visit our "family" farm in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. The farm has been in the family since 1783, when "mad" King George granted the land to those who remained loyal to the Crown and travelled north to settle in what would become Canada.

When  I visited with my parents the farm house had only just had indoor plumbing installed two year before.....and there was no electricity! Remember this was in the 1960's, I had never been to a home that didn't have power!

At bedtime I went upstairs with my coal oil lamp, as many generations had done before me in that house and snuggled under many layers of handmade quilts.....a novelty to me as we were a "wool blanket and bedspread" family!

Aunt Stacie showed me how to do some simple hand piecing and I remember travelling home with a little kit of fabric, pins and thread. Although I've long since misplaced the little kit, I still remember the warmth and love in that home with dear Aunt Stacie. 

Hand Piecing at Quilt University

I'll be teaching my Hand Piecing class at Quilt University http://www.quiltuniversity.com/ beginning this weekend and its not too late to registerIf you've never considered working just by hand here's a brief introduction to get you started:
Why would quilters consider hand piecing? Some people may think, "Hand piecing? Why bother? Didn’t we get rid of that a long time ago? There are so many newer speedier methods!"

Handwork has really never gone out of fashion. There are times and places where working by hand is the best method. We cannot always haul the sewing machine, cutters, mats and rulers with us wherever we go. Thus, piecing some or all of our quilts by hand stitching can be a perfect answer for portability and the opportunity to use spare moments of time.
Is portability the only reason to hand piece? I think there are several good reasons, some of which apply at different times depending on our needs and moods. Here are a few to consider:

It is relaxing; we have to sit down to do our work. This is different from sitting at our machine where we have to concentrate on the machine and where the needle is in relation to our fingers. In hand piecing we can pick a comfortable chair, curl up in front of the TV or at the beach; I often stitch while my husband is driving during holidays, with the map close at hand. We can relax and hand piece any time and anywhere we choose. The stitching is repetitive; almost always it is a running stitch, which is easy to manipulate by your fingers, using only a few pins, if needed.

We usually work in small units, concentrating on one unit or block at a time. Accuracy is another key element in hand piecing. When we have small pieces to put together or curved units to join, working by hand ensures that bias edges are kept under control and eased into the seam evenly.

With good preparation, work progresses quickly. Preparation is key for hand piecing. By tracing and cutting all the pieces needed for your work and then having them ready for the hand work, you will save time.

Few tools are needed for your work. Remember that quilters in the past had scissors, needle, thread and pins. So, it is not a costly endeavor to begin your quilt making journey. When I worked in a quilt shop, I often thought that the initial expense of all the modern equipment deterred beginners when they wanted to just try it to see if it was a skill they wanted to pursue. The tools for hand piecing are generally ones which we already have, so expense is not a critical factor.

We can use short periods of time to work on our project. It is easy to find a few spare minutes in our day to pick up a project and add a few stitches. Think of the time spent waiting at doctor’s appointments, while dinner is cooking, or at the kids sporting events. If you have made the preparations that we will discuss in class, small amounts of time can develop into some wonderful work! With hand piecing it is easy to stop in the middle of a seam and then return to complete the seam later. You will not have lost your place. Imagine doing that with your machine piecing!

Learn all about Hand Piecing

I'll be teaching my Hand Piecing class at Quilt University http://www.quiltuniversity.com/ beginning this weekend and its not too late to registerIf you've never considered working just by hand here's a brief introduction to get you started:
Why would quilters consider hand piecing? Some people may think, "Hand piecing? Why bother? Didn’t we get rid of that a long time ago? There are so many newer speedier methods!"

Handwork has really never gone out of fashion. There are times and places where working by hand is the best method. We cannot always haul the sewing machine, cutters, mats and rulers with us wherever we go. Thus, piecing some or all of our quilts by hand stitching can be a perfect answer for portability and the opportunity to use spare moments of time.
Is portability the only reason to hand piece? I think there are several good reasons, some of which apply at different times depending on our needs and moods. Here are a few to consider:

It is relaxing; we have to sit down to do our work. This is different from sitting at our machine where we have to concentrate on the machine and where the needle is in relation to our fingers. In hand piecing we can pick a comfortable chair, curl up in front of the TV or at the beach; I often stitch while my husband is driving during holidays, with the map close at hand. We can relax and hand piece any time and anywhere we choose. The stitching is repetitive; almost always it is a running stitch, which is easy to manipulate by your fingers, using only a few pins, if needed.

We usually work in small units, concentrating on one unit or block at a time. Accuracy is another key element in hand piecing. When we have small pieces to put together or curved units to join, working by hand ensures that bias edges are kept under control and eased into the seam evenly.

With good preparation, work progresses quickly. Preparation is key for hand piecing. By tracing and cutting all the pieces needed for your work and then having them ready for the hand work, you will save time.

Few tools are needed for your work. Remember that quilters in the past had scissors, needle, thread and pins. So, it is not a costly endeavor to begin your quilt making journey. When I worked in a quilt shop, I often thought that the initial expense of all the modern equipment deterred beginners when they wanted to just try it to see if it was a skill they wanted to pursue. The tools for hand piecing are generally ones which we already have, so expense is not a critical factor.

We can use short periods of time to work on our project. It is easy to find a few spare minutes in our day to pick up a project and add a few stitches. Think of the time spent waiting at doctor’s appointments, while dinner is cooking, or at the kids sporting events. If you have made the preparations that we will discuss in class, small amounts of time can develop into some wonderful work! With hand piecing it is easy to stop in the middle of a seam and then return to complete the seam later. You will not have lost your place. Imagine doing that with your machine piecing!

These are three projects we'll be working on:

Monkey Wrench Table Runner introduces template making, straight seams and stitch technique.

Petal Power is about curved piecing, pressing tips and more!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Black Diamond is all about Y-seams and reversed templates.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Remember that Jinny Beyer creates all her quilts by hand and look what gorgeous work she does!

Think about Hand Piecing!

I'm preparing some updates to my Hand Piecing class at www.quiltuniversity.com that begins September 16th. Have you considered hand piecing your blocks or quilts? Does it sounds time consuming or monotonous? You might be very surprised at how quickly the work can go if you follow these simple steps:

• In hand piecing we can pick a comfortable chair, curl up in front of the TV or at the beach. We can relax and do the piecing any time and anywhere we choose. The stitching is repetitive, almost always it is a running stitch, which is easy to manipulate by your fingers with a few pins if needed.


• Preparation is key for hand piecing. By tracing and cutting all the pieces needed for your work and then having them ready for the hand work, you will save time.

• Few tools are needed for your work. Needle, thread, small scissors and a thimble are all the tools needed. Buy good quality and they will last a long time.

• We can use short periods of time to work on our project. It is easy to find a few spare minutes in our day to pick up a project and add a few stitches.

• If you have made the preparations, small amounts of time can develop into some wonderful work! With hand piecing it is easy to stop in the middle of a seam and then return to complete the seam later, you won’t have lost your place or dropped stitches. Imagine doing that with your machine piecing.

• Use small plastic containers with little compartments for storage. Zippered sandwich bags can hold your cut and prepared fabrics. Label them with block names for easy reference.

Here are two of the projects we'll be working on:

Petal Power Block

Black Diamond Block