My grandmother started me hand sewing my alternating blocks in rows. She'd tell me now many rows I needed across & how many rows down. I would turn those into little doll quilts & she'd help me hand sew them. Later I worked my way up to helping her hand quilt on the old time hanging frames. We always laughed a lot and had our iced tea. Oh Iced tea is the key to keeping cool on a hot afternoon when you're quilting. Good luck.