Hand Piecing

Do you hand piece?

Hand piecing sure isn't often (ever?) mentioned in blog posts. So when the February/March issue (No. 420) of Quilters Newsletter magazine arrived, with an article about hand piecing, I was tickled. The opening paragraph reflects my own thoughts about this somewhat neglected technique:

"Many hand piecers find the pastime relaxing and some say they're able to make more quilts because it's easier to find a few minutes here and there to hand stitch, even when they're on the go. Hand piecing is easy to learn and ideal for quilters of all skill levels with little or no dedicated studio space for a machine."

Let me add, "Hoorah for hand piecing!" When I thought about it, I realized I have three quilts that I've hand pieced, and I have enjoyed every moment of doing so... mostly while a passenger on long road trips, or while away from home. With a little pre-planning (less effort than applique), you take a hand-pieced project anywhere.

My first hand pieced quilt top is this Winding Ways. It isn't finish, but the hand piecing is! The quilt top is 51" X 69", (each block is 8-1/2" finished) and my plan is to add an appliqued border. I don't get around to hand applique as easily as hand piecing. 

These are the homemade templates I used to trace the pieces onto fabric. 

Don't the seams look good?

Are you noticing all the curved pieces? My philosophy about hand piecing is that if you're going to make the effort to hand piece, you might as well piece something that's a bit more challenging than just straight lines. Straight line piecing is much easier to accomplish on a sewing machine. So when I decide what I want to hand piece, I intentionally select a pattern with curves or set-in seams. That's why my second hand pieced quilt is this Periwinkle Star. 

Most often, when I've seen this as a finished quilt, the octagon shapes are pieced into quarters (straight seams). Again, my thought was make it a whole octagon with set-in seams. Gosh, I got so carried away piecing scraps (only the octagons are the same muslin fabric) that this quilt center is 80" X 80". I'm currently hand-appliqueing four borders for it. I'm on border #3. 

Get a load of that piecing! Come on, look closely! Check out those points! 

This kind of precision is very achievable when it's done by hand. 

My third hand pieced quilt, Candied Hexagons, is also unfinished. While this one involved quite a bit of straight seam piecing, some of the hexies have set-in seams. This quilt center also still needs hand appliqued borders. (sigh)

But the two points I want to make about hand piecing is that: 1) it's easy to do; 2) and, it's a great travel project.

Hand piecing stitches can be done in a couple different ways. Some make a simple running stitch. I prefer to load my needle with three to four stitches, pull those through, and then backstitch through the last stitch when I reload the needle. The thought behind this concept is that should a thread ever break, the entire seam won't pull out.

When you hand piece, you know exactly where to stitch because the line that's drawn around a template is the stitching line. I prefer to cut out a shape with a 3/16th inch seam allowance. The hand piecing stitches themselves are about 1/16th of an inch apart.

 

In the QN article, four different hand pieced blocks are featured including templates for tracing. Blocks are Orange Peel; Rainbow Flower; The Painted Daisy; and The Gay Cosmos. The latter two have the additional element of hand applique. You know how well I don't get along with that!

It's the Orange Peel that got my attention. Here are my homemade templates, ready to be traced onto fabric.

The book from which these four QN designs were taken is The Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns by Jinny Beyer. It's a hardbound, full color book that contains 4,050 pieced blocks! Now wouldn't that keep a hand piecer busy for a while!

For those who want to know... our two month-old grandson, Aesa, is back at home after a two night hospital stay. He's recovering from bronchiolitis, a viral inflammation of the small ends of the bronchial tubes. We've learned that it's congestion and wheezing that most often strikes infants who are one to nine months old. We're extremely thankful he's improving, and we're grateful for your prayers.

After three weeks, I'm still trying to get over sinusitis and unhappily trying to get used to a plugged right ear. Let me tell you, it really is tedious to listen to myself so much! But I'm grateful to have energy again, and feel like getting back to my quilting. My next hand piecing project has my attention. Will you be hand piecing too?