The first picture shows the pieces that I am working on, on the left
Starter scraps in the middle
Some other blocks I have cut and stacked that I keep beside my machine


The second picture shows that I have sewn onto my starter scrap and I have butted my first block right up close to it,( I like to leave about a 1/8" to a 1/4" gap between them) and I will start sewing on it. I use these scraps over and over again, I keep several to the side of my machine.

The third picture shows that as soon as I come to the end of the first block, I have placed the second block right up to my presser foot and will start sewing on it leaving a small gap.

It doesn't matter whether your blocks are square, triangles, circles, or a combination of these... you can chain piece like this with most all of them :D:D:D

Your beginning and ending seams won't get sucked down into the needle hole, you save on thread (you don't have long thread tails to trim off of the beginning and ending seams) and it is a real time saver too :wink:

I also try to keep a stack of blocks next to my machine that are for an on going project. I use these instead of starter scraps. This way, I am sewing on two projects at once :wink: and I just cut them off and press them with my other blocks and put them in stack.
It is amazing how many of these you can sew while working on another project :D:D:D This is what you see in the first picture, I am done chain piecing this set of blocks, and I am ready to sew on to this "block as you go" as I call them. I will cut off the chained blocks behind it, and leave that little block there in my presser foot, ready to use on my next set of chained pieced blocks.

The last picture shows that I have taken my chains to my ironing board. One set I used a starter scrap to begin with, the other I used a "block as you go" to start with. I will cut them apart and then press them. I will take the starter scrap back to my machine, and the pressed block as you go to the stack with the others.

Sometimes I might even sew 4-6 of these blocks as you go in a row.... I don't always like to just sit and sew a bunch of these at a time, so this way I get through them faster and it is way less monotonous :D:D:D These blocks can be any size, shape, etc... Just cut a bunch out, leave them stacked by your machine, and have fun being twice as productive :D:D:D

Bless you, Miss Amma ... you are such a help! Thank you!<wave>

Great tute, amma!!! Chain Piecing Rules!!!! :-D :-D
I only learned how to do this after joining this board :-D :-D

Best explanation I have seen for this! Thank you so much!

Thanks Amma. I like the idea of having an ongoing project for the starts and stops with chain piecing. I will try that.

Thank you. I love all the help you give us. :-D

You are all very welcome :D:D:D

The pics and lesson is wonderful. Thank-you! You are a good teacher.

Since reading about your starter scrap, I have been using this and thank you thank you. Duh, why didn't I think of this before?

Chain piecing is great. Saves lots of headaches once you get the hang of it.

Thanks oodles.

another great idea! thanks amma, I'm certain to try it! LOL

Thanks for sharing this , I know it works well as this is how I did this while working in a Bar factory many years ago. :thumbup:

I LOVE factory work, and it was when I found Eleanor Burns utilizing production techniques I learned at the factory that I could respond well to quilting, and THEN! That rotary cutter!
(In an aside, I want to COMMEND those quilters who have learned with templates, pencils, and scissors - - BLESS YOU!)
So, NOW! I have to ask:
What is a Bar factory? I worked at a clothing factory, doing Levis, Helly Hensen, and I forget some of the other brands and types of clothing. <wave>

Thanks for the tutorial, okay we are ready for more tutorials from you!

great pics

Thank you everyone :D:D:D

I searched out a quilters forum looking for exactly this same problem...blocks not coming out evenly.

Can you explain the starter scrap to me? I'm not getting what it is or what it does.

Thanks!

Most of the time the variation of your seam lines occurs at the end of the seam. The way it feeds in, you can't get a hold of enough of the fabric to keep guiding it in properly. By butting fabric pieces up against each other, it seems to eliminate this problem. Maybe because it is like sewing one continuous seam? The next piece helps feed through the last? I am not sure, but it really helped my accuracy :D:D:D

Another thought is, that it saves on thread as long as your scraps are not very big. Usually you cut off several inches of thread at the end of each seam, you use less using this method. My scraps are about 1/2" wide, or less.

Theoretically, you leave one under your presser foot at all times.

Also, using blocks as starter pieces, I can work on another quilt at the same time. Like in the pictures, I have a stack of blocks sitting next to my machine to work on. These blocks can be any size or type.

thanks for the tutorial

I have a stack of starters and enders by my machine at all times, now that I heard through the Cutie grapevine about your stack of blocks.........well, suffice to say I now have scrappy blocks there all the time. I DID smack myself in the head for you. :-(

No Smackin' allowed LOL I found that idea while cruising the web :wink: I sure did not come up with it all by myself LMBO

You know sometimes we just keep trucking on things that make us crazy and all of a sudden we can run across something here or on a blog that make the :idea: come on.

amma: Thank you so much!

thanks for the tutorial

rs I cut 2.5 inch squares out of small scraps make 2 piles light and dark I use these as starters then I put 8 pairs together add a 2.5 in border .this makes a neat scrappy quilt and you don't spend hours on it

That sounds like a really FUN quilt! ... <wave>

Great idea!!! Thank you for sharing this with us :D:D:D

thanks for the cool way for a starter and when you get done will have a quilt, awesome idea

Great tute - clear as can be! I learned to sew in 1964 (gasp) and I always knew that the end of the piece was where the machine would tend to go astray but never dawned on me to "piece" it!
I have learned so much on this board I can't begin to say! Thank you

That's awesome.. I use another block from another project to sew together, but sometimes when Embroidering the fabric gets sucked down. O_O