I started my quilting adventure by doing hand piecing, but moved on to using the sewing machine to piece & quilt my projects. I’ll admit, sewing with a machine is much faster than by hand. But there is something ‘soothing’ about doing hand-work, plus it’s more portable. Hand work is something I enjoy. I have cross-stitched (until my eyes no longer liked the small holes!) and still crochet.
The first several classes I took when I wanted to learn about quilting consisted of hand quilting & hand piecing. I still meet nearly every Thursday with ladies I met 12 years ago and we hand stitch our different projects for the afternoon.
I mostly hand piece blocks, quilt labels & bindings and small projects. The first year I was quilting, I participated in a Mystery Quilt in a Bag offered by a local quilt shop. I purchased the fabric, left it at the Quilt Shop, and each couple of weeks returned to pick up a small, brown bag with pre-cut pieces and directions for piecing. I even finished the top, but have never added batting & backing and quilted it. Looking at it now, I want to quilt it by hand.
To learn about piecing & quilting, in addition to taking classes, I did research on the Internet where I follow several blogs. Some share recipes, some share their love of Vintage Singer Sewing Machines, some share their charity quilting, while others are designers who share their patterns and tutorials.
Many bloggers will share their joy of quilting by hosting Mystery Quilts, Quilt Alongs, Link-ups, and giveaways. There are times I will just read, but not participate. But there are other times, my interest is aroused and I will join in or at least save posts/PDFs for later use.
Well, I’ve been hooked. Patty of Elm Street Quilts along with Kristin of Simply Everyday Handmade have joined together to host Hand Pieced – A Quilt Along which starts January 7th. They promise that it will include instructions, tips, tutorials as well as videos to help. There will be chances to win prizes and a final quilt-top Link-up. In the end we will have a small sampler of 9 blocks about 6″ x 6″ resulting in a wall hanging about 23″ x 23″ or 36″ x 36″ (depending on which optional setting we choose to do).
I’m thinking this project will improve my hand piecing skill and then I will be confident enough to hand quilt my “What Knotts” quilt.
QuiltMouse 
The very first quilt class I took was at my church, and the lady had us make a mini quilt, all by hand. We cut, using templates (but she did teach us how to use a rotary cutter) and she wanted us to stitch all the blocks by hand for the first quilt. Since I wanted to finish my mini quilt before we traveled to visit family for Thanksgiving, I taught myself how to do the hand quilting. Yes, hand stitching is relaxing. I don’t do large quilts anymore (got burned out doing double feathers on a large quilt) but I’ll do little things. Have fun with your hand stitching this year.
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