I'm going on a road trip to NC's Outer Banks on Oct. 24th. Since I'm leaving from Conroe, Tx it's going to be a long road trip. I'll also be staying with family for about 4-5 days once we get there. I thought this would be a good time to try hand piecing. I think I have the "how to's" down pretty good, I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions or tips for hand quilting on the road, away from my sewing sanctuary!

What about it guys and gals...any advice?!

I just cut my pieces before I leave, and sew away while I'm in the car! It's great to see how much you can get done. Have fun and post of pic of what you did when you get back. Have a great trip.

I love the Outer Banks, so peaceful and away from it all, love the ferry ride too.

As for suggestions, make sure you have everything you need and make up a little travel bag and remember your snacks, hand work makes you hungry LOL

I like Jinny Beyer's Perfect Piecer. It shows all of the angles and has holes you can put your pencil through to mark your seam lines. A friend takes along her small June Taylor cutting/ pressing mat to pin her pieces on. A cord on your small scissors to hold them handy and keep them from falling out of your reach would also be handy. I keep a lot of my little sewing notions and fabric pieces in a mesh zip bag. Thread on bobbins instead of spools would be handy and take up less room. Don't forget the usual, pins, needles, pin cushion, small ruler, thimble if you use one, etc. Also a little bottle of hand sanatizer would be good to take to make sure your hands are clean after eating chocolate, etc. Also a pressing stick would be handy as well as a little iron when you are in a motel or at someone's home. Take pictures of your quilting on the way, as well as the scenery. I keep my camera handy when I'm riding in the car so I can take pictures on the move through the window. This is long, but I hope you find something here helpful. Also, one of my favorite tools... a small telescoping magnet (cheaper at Auto Zone $3.00 than at Joann's) to pick up pins, scissors, needles, thimble, etc that fall out of your reach. Have a great trip . :)

I'm a hand piecer and almost NEVER leave the house without a block or two somewhere on my person to put together.
I love to do samplers, so when I am making one I put all of my pieces for each block in a seperate zip lock bag along with any piecing directions. If you're doing a design that all the blocks are the same it's not quite so bulky.
I have a small box that holds my small "snipping" scissors, I pre-thread 2 packages of my favorite piecing needles onto a spool of thread and that way don't have to try to thread needles "on the go". I have a little packet that holds just a few pins.. usually don't need more than 4 to piece blocks. You might want to add a seam ripper, but usually they are not necessary for hand pieced blocks, and I just add one of those huge yellow ball headed pins to pick out stitches that have gone astray. and all of this will fit in a nice zip lock bag, and the bag protects everything also. have a super time and happy stitching.

I hope you have a wonderful time at the outer banks...it's just up the coast from me. I would suggest one of those lap desk things. It would give you a nice work surface and they're so lightweight. You couldn't have chosen a more relaxing place to vacation.