Quiltingboard Forums - Getting discouraged

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The posts by Suz and Peckish sound like the way I learned to hand piece.

I saw Jinny Beyer on Simply Quilts a LOOONG time ago demonstrate hand piecing. Here is the initial link.
http://www.hgtv.com/video/quilting-b...deo/index.html
Here is the second link, where she shows how to match up her points. Interesting that she does not sew through the seams pressed to one side or the other showing how different hand piecing is from machine.
http://www.hgtv.com/video/quilting-b...deo/index.html
And, finally, her third video. And all without glue.
http://www.hgtv.com/video/quilting-b...deo/index.html
BTW, I do NOT hand piece but if I did I would employ her methods. The up-side of hand piecing is that you can take it anywhere, do it watching TV when the machine is in another room, or work on a quilt at a family picnic. It does have its' advantages over machine piecing.

Does anyone know if the Elmer's glue for keeping the seams together will do damage to your sewing machine if you glue a bunch of seams? Was just wondering, know this is a new technique and it works, but was wondering if the inside of my machine will have all the slivers of glue all over it like my fingers and what it might do.

I agree with trying the glue basting method. There was a thread on here just last week with many positive things to say about this method. I'm sure you could find it by doing a search for glue basting. Good luck.

I pin before and sfter the seam. If you pin in the seam, the pin makes a space and will not be matched. I only sew by machine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by meldmac (Post 5779354)

No matter how hard I try I can't seem to line up my seams when hand piecing my squares. I'm getting really discouraged with this. I was using pins through the seams but it didn't seem to matter, any tips for hand piecing?

Think I can help with this. You probably are moving/shifting the fabric when you piece and not realizing it. Watch the fingers/hand that holds the fabric. Are you gripping the patches or holding them between forefinger and thumb. I bet you may have a death grip on the two patches. Hold it lightly. And apply direct finger pressure--in other words, don't scoot your fingers in opposite directions. Doing this will cause the fabric to shift. Next, when you sew from one patch to another, have the seam allowance up and out of the way, do NOT sew the seam allowances down. Instead, run the needle through the fabric from one patch to the next one at the seam line level (the seam allowances are left loose). Hope this helps. SandyQuilter (not sandyquilts)
Oh, you don't need glue to piece--ever.