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bearisgray 04-24-2019 04:00 AM

Hand piecing?
 
Do any of you do hand piecing?

I still do once in a while. Especially for a complex block that I have no idea for how to press it after it is completed.

I backstitch every three to four stitches. I have found the stitching to be surprisingly hard to remove when it is basically just a short running stitch.

feline fanatic 04-24-2019 04:44 AM

I love handwork but have never done hand piecing. I always have a handwork WIP going. I have done hand applique, hand embroidery, including sashiko, EPP, finished binding by hand and hand quilting but I have never tried my hand at traditional hand piecing. I would like to though. Winding ways is on my bucket list and I may do that as my first foray into hand piecing. The thought of marking all those pieces with my 1/4" seam is what deters me. I am terrible at eyeballing it so would need to mark my seam line. Have considered ordering the inklingo package so I can run it through my printer.

ckcowl 04-24-2019 04:56 AM

I do enjoy hand Piecing. I machine stitch most of the time, but I always have a hand project to take with me where ever I go. If I have wait time, or break time I can sit and stitch. It is amazing how much you can get done in 10-15 minutes sometimes

IrishgalfromNJ 04-24-2019 05:07 AM

I've only done hand piecing with EPP.

liking quilting 04-24-2019 05:51 AM

One time, there was a video on the web of an Asian lady who could piece by hand faster than most people sew with a machine. (I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it). She pieced intricate, small pieces into beautiful quilts.I admire hand piecing and hand quilting, but don't aspire to do it. ha ha. Love my motorized machines!

Doggramma 04-24-2019 06:15 AM

I used to hand piece when I started quilting because I was terrible at machine piecing. But now I mostly just do hand applique or EPP.

bearisgray 04-24-2019 06:33 AM


Originally Posted by feline fanatic (Post 8244450)
I love handwork but have never done hand piecing. I always have a handwork WIP going. I have done hand applique, hand embroidery, including sashiko, EPP, finished binding by hand and hand quilting but I have never tried my hand at traditional hand piecing. I would like to though. Winding ways is on my bucket list and I may do that as my first foray into hand piecing. The thought of marking all those pieces with my 1/4" seam is what deters me. I am terrible at eyeballing it so would need to mark my seam line. Have considered ordering the inklingo package so I can run it through my printer.

I would make two templates for each shape - one for the cutting line and one to trace around. I can't eyeball that line, either.

Patricia Drew 04-24-2019 07:03 AM

We had a 72-hour power outage 2 weeks ago, and I did some hand-piecing. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. Of course, it's quite time consuming, but in the circumstances, it was relaxing!

I have to admit however that as soon as the power came back, I was back to machine-piecing!

Peckish 04-24-2019 10:58 AM


Originally Posted by liking quilting (Post 8244480)
One time, there was a video on the web of an Asian lady who could piece by hand faster than most people sew with a machine. (I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it). She pieced intricate, small pieces into beautiful quilts.

Sounds like you might be talking about Yoko Saito. I was fortunate enough to take a class from her in Houston last year, it was fabulous. She was very patient and demonstrated her techniques over and over again for us. She also had an assistant who was equally skilled and patient. My entire trip to Houston was worth it for that class alone!

Another wonderfully skilled hand-piecer is Jinny Beyer.

I like to hand-piece in the evenings while watching tv with Mr. Peckish, and I love to take hand-piecing projects to work on when I tag along on his business trips.

SophieHatter 04-24-2019 12:57 PM

I am possibly a) mad, b) slapdash, and c) patient, but I find hand sewing very relaxing and machine sewing very stressful, and I can't be doing with all those bits of paper. So I just make a pair of templates - a bigger one to cut round and a smaller one to sew round - or one doughnut shaped one for both, out of some very solid cardboard using a stanly knife or some very sharp scissors to cut it out straight. Then I iron the fabric and lay it nice and flat-but-relaxed on the table, and draw the shapes directly onto the back of the fabric with a softish art pencil, taking care to keep it at a consistent angle rather than digging into the cardboard or the fabric. I cut out my shapes, then just sew backstitch along the lines! I pin the pieces in place as I go along, so adding the patches as I get to them when I am sewing, poking the pins through the corners carefully first and pointing these diagonally outwards so they don't slide, then putting a couple of pins in straight along the line that I am about to sew. I made a hexagonal quilt for my Gran that way, and it worked beautifully. It's kinda wonky if you actually get your ruler and protractor out, but that's part of the charm and it doesn't show! I've just finished sewing the front of a standard square patchwork quilt that way, I've yet to quilt it but it looks good so far.

Probably not your normal recommended style of expert quilting, but it keeps me happy!
And because there's no sewing machine to lug around and no clickety noise, and I can control it with my fingertips without consciously concentrating, I can sew on the train, while listening to podcasts, in the garden, on holiday, while chatting to talkative relatives... so it's not like the extra time it takes is wasted!

SusieQOH 04-24-2019 01:01 PM

I love to have a hand work project for trips, appointments, etc. I learned to quilt by hand piecing. Wow, it seems like it was a million years ago!

SophieHatter 04-24-2019 01:06 PM

It looks like I may have somehow left out a whole load of steps? Like adding paper, and then tacking, and then sewing? I just draw the lines, pin it and sew it! It didn't occur to me to do anything else.

Jingle 04-24-2019 03:01 PM

Not for me. I love machine piecing. Hand piecing would be too slow.

Mdegenhart 04-24-2019 03:16 PM

I like hand piecing blocks that have Y seams. I also do paper piecing and some appliqué. I like hand work.

luvstoquilt 04-25-2019 04:28 AM

I love hand piecing and like others I do it when I have Y seams. I am working on a 30’s now as a side project. I find it very relaxing. I saw Jinny Beyer last year in Shipshewana. Her work is outstanding and her use of color is unmatchable.

maryb119 04-25-2019 05:57 AM

I made 4 quilts that were hand pieced and hand quilted. I found it doesn't take that long. I put the pieces for one block in one baggie and I could take it with me. It was a fun process.

appleblossom 04-25-2019 11:03 AM

I do both. sometime there are things need especial attention! Today everything goes with everything!

Peckish 04-25-2019 11:17 AM


Originally Posted by SophieHatter (Post 8244660)
It looks like I may have somehow left out a whole load of steps? Like adding paper, and then tacking, and then sewing? I just draw the lines, pin it and sew it! It didn't occur to me to do anything else.

The adding paper, tacking, and sewing steps are part of EPP, or English paper-piecing. I don't bother with that; I either draw lines or I use the template-and-starch method.

quiltingcandy 04-25-2019 11:43 AM

My first hand project was sewing squares together. It was extremely basic and all my corners nested. :-) I was told to use a 1/4 inch ruler - it's like a 4x4 but only 1/4 inch and is about 6 inches long - with a pencil to mark the 1/4 in. to sew along. It was easier to follow and only had to mark one side as I sewed. Then I did GFG - they are the 2 in size and I did not paper piece, just drew the line on them. (One time I decided to use one of the disappearing fabric pens - thinking it was the water soluble and it was the one that disappeared 20 minutes after it was applied. Oops!) Then I discovered EPP and love it. My problem is so many other projects pop up and get finished ahead of the other.

Oh, I think the Irish chain is easier by hand than by machine - but it takes much longer. It all depends on how much you want to accomplish.

Suz 04-25-2019 12:42 PM

I believe that Jinny Beyer hand pieces all of her quilts.

ckcowl 04-26-2019 04:42 AM

I think most of my hand Piecing came about from watching Jinny Beyer. I love her quilts, and found them easier to construct than by machine quite often.

SusieQOH 04-26-2019 04:54 AM

Yes, Jinny Beyer is a hand piecer. And her designs are usually a lot easier to hand piece than by machine. She's been one of my favorites since I started quilting.

jmoore 04-26-2019 05:58 AM


Originally Posted by Jingle (Post 8244709)
Not for me. I love machine piecing. Hand piecing would be too slow.

I’m with Jingle...the only handwork I do is appliqué. Otherwise, I will work on a crochet project.


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