Thread: Is hand piecing really becoming extinct?

Mine took me nearly 9 years as it was on the back burner for a good while,but some blocks have been in different parts of the world,my sister took one of the Sisters choice blocks to the US with her when she visited her son.

I am handpiecing my Farmers Wife Quilt (thank you Laurie) and I love it. It is very relaxing and I am doing it while I visit my Mom, who is very ill. It is very soothing. Sarah

Originally Posted by laurieaaron

I recently visited a quilt guild where it was known that I was a hand piecer. I was very surprised when a woman came up to me and said that she was the only one of the group who handpieced, and the guild had almost 200 members! I am not suggesting a poll (that would be crazy!) but from your experience in your guilds, is handpiecing really that rare? I feel like a dinosaur, :) but a happy handpiecing one! Thank you.

I know of only one person that hand quilts. Her church holds "quilting bees" for special projects and they are indeed lovely works of art. And it is a wonderful social time together. However, when I have asked several dry cleaners if they would clean/launder a quilt for me, the first ting they ask me is "is it hand or machine quilted?" They don't want the liability, if it should fall apart or be damaged in any way. Machine sewn quilts are certainly more sturdy.




























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I know of only one person that hand quilts. Her church holds "quilting bees" for special projects and they are indeed lovely works of art. And it is a wonderful social time together. However, when I have asked several dry cleaners if they would clean/launder a quilt for me, the first ting they ask me is "is it hand or machine quilted?" They don't want the liability, if it should fall apart or be damaged in any way. Machine sewn quilts are certainly more sturdy. Not to mention that I don't like thimbles or sore fingers! :-)




























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please explain what a whole cloth is. Thank you

Hand piecer and hand quilter here; just recently decided to try machine piecing; began with a log cabin in all blue colors. It is turning out OK, and I will have it machine quilted by a friend, But, I do like the portability of doing piecing by hand; even take it to work with me!! And there is just something so special about a hand quilted quilt..

My great grand mother hand quilted all her quilts both heavy wool and light cotton. In my ignorance we used the cotton ones at the beach year after year not realizing what quilting was all about. They are still in good shape despite my machine washing them over and over again for years. And lots of use.

I hand piece and have been for many years. I'm currently making a king size Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt in memory of my Great Grandmother who hand pieced all of her quilts including the quilt in the last picture here. It seems I always have a couple of quilts, one hand piecing item and usually something small to carry in the car going at once.

I don't think hand piecing will become extinct if we keep sharing how much fun it is and passing the love of quilting on to others. If we do what we love and share it, it cannot help but interest someone. Thank you to all who enjoy quilting on this board and for sharing your love of quilting.

In memory of my Great Grandma

Another view

Great Grandma Watson's Quilt given to me

Originally Posted by vivian bailey

please explain what a whole cloth is. Thank you

A whole cloth quilt is a quilt top made with one piece of cloth. I'm attaching a picture but I did not make this one. I just started a white on white whole cloth quilt for my 2nd daughter's wedding gift.

Whole Cloth Sample

Attachment-91947.pdf

I don't think hand piecing is extinct. It is slower and some don't have the time or don't want to tke the time to hand piece something when it could be machine pieced in a fraction of the hours.

I love hand piecing and I love hand quilting. I'm a longarm machine quilter by trade so I spend my days humming along on client quilts with the humongous machine. At the end of the day, I'm tired. I want some quiet handwork that I can do sitting down, and barely moving.

Sooooooooooo, I spend my evenings in my cozy chair quietly hand piecing or hand quilting. It feels organic, natural, soothing, and quiet.

I started this Snowball quilt last September. I completely hand sewed and hand quilted it. I finished it in April.

I really want to learn!

Originally Posted by laurieaaron

I recently visited a quilt guild where it was known that I was a hand piecer. I was very surprised when a woman came up to me and said that she was the only one of the group who handpieced, and the guild had almost 200 members! I am not suggesting a poll (that would be crazy!) but from your experience in your guilds, is handpiecing really that rare? I feel like a dinosaur, :) but a happy handpiecing one! Thank you.

The only hand piecers I know are applique artists, but the still machine piece their blocks together. I don't know any one that actually hand pieces a quilt.

Originally Posted by StitchinJoy

I don't think hand piecing is extinct. It is slower and some don't have the time or don't want to tke the time to hand piece something when it could be machine pieced in a fraction of the hours.

I love hand piecing and I love hand quilting. I'm a longarm machine quilter by trade so I spend my days humming along on client quilts with the humongous machine. At the end of the day, I'm tired. I want some quiet handwork that I can do sitting down, and barely moving.

Sooooooooooo, I spend my evenings in my cozy chair quietly hand piecing or hand quilting. It feels organic, natural, soothing, and quiet.

I started this Snowball quilt last September. I completely hand sewed and hand quilted it. I finished it in April.

Love the snowball pattern--never seen it before. Where can I get the pattern?

The snowball pattern is public domain-

here is the link to Quilters cache
http://quilterscache.com/S/SnowballBlock.html

I have handpieced a few blocks and really enjoyed it. I would do more, but my hands just can't do it.
I applaud you for doing what you enjoy!!! :D:D:D

Originally Posted by purplemem

The snowball pattern is public domain-

here is the link to Quilters cache
http://quilterscache.com/S/SnowballBlock.html

Thanks, I found it and ran a copy off. Looks like a good way to use scraps, etc.

My repro snowballs are 4" blocks with 2" corners. It's a copy of an antique quilt in the collection of Arlen and Pat Christ of Berks County, PA.

Also if you'll note, every other one is light or dark, like a checkerboard. And many of the blocks don't have 4 matching corners. I had lots of 2" scraps left over from another project, so they got used up in this.

It was a very satisfying project to hand piece.

Originally Posted by campion

This is my first big quilt and it's hand pieced,made about
8 years ago

Your quilt is beautiful!

Gorgeous!!

Originally Posted by StitchinJoy

I don't think hand piecing is extinct. It is slower and some don't have the time or don't want to tke the time to hand piece something when it could be machine pieced in a fraction of the hours.

I love hand piecing and I love hand quilting. I'm a longarm machine quilter by trade so I spend my days humming along on client quilts with the humongous machine. At the end of the day, I'm tired. I want some quiet handwork that I can do sitting down, and barely moving.

Sooooooooooo, I spend my evenings in my cozy chair quietly hand piecing or hand quilting. It feels organic, natural, soothing, and quiet.

I started this Snowball quilt last September. I completely hand sewed and hand quilted it. I finished it in April.

I started out handpiecing (English paper piecing) and still enjoy doing handwork in the evenings. There are so many quilts on my "to do list" I decided to learn how to use my machine....it's great fun and a lot quicker but I still intend to keep up my hand work....it's portable, I can keep my husband company in the evenings and there is nothing more meditative and calming than stitching by hand.

here in my area it is really hard to find anyone who hand pieces any more. When I learned to quilt I did hand piecing but since then I have used my machine. Hopefully hand piecing will make a comeback it would be shame to lose that wonderful art.

Hi in North Carolina (my home too). I just started hand piecing and hand quilting early this year. My sister has done BOTH for at least 30 years. She got me started at the age of 70 and I LOVE IT. It's slow but very relaxing for me. I don't worry about how LONG it will take. I'm just enjoying the process and will really enjoy the finished project (it's a QS quilt). Yes, it's still around but we're no hearing about it as much (everyone doesn't use a computer and have access to this web site. We'll just keep finding the hand piecers and hand quilters.

i hand pc and think it's becoming a lost art along with hand quilting 9whichi do), so many people have gone the way of speedyness to get it done, i like the relaxation of fine quilting and not so fine quilting, just for the enjoyment of it. i quilt for myself and not for ribbons.

I love to hand piece, too. I like to be with my dh in the evenings and he likes to watch TV. Handpiecing gives me something productive to do. My avatar is a queen size yo yo quilt. I took about a year to finish it.

Right now in my small quilt group, there are three that are hand piecing just to have something to work on when they come to the group weekly. Nay quilting is not dying out, it is just evolving!