Hand Pieced QAL Mini Quilt Finish

My hand pieced quilt is finished! Whew! A big thank-you goes to Patty at Elm Street Quilts and Kristin at Simple.Handmade.Everyday for hosting this event. Their tutorials were so thorough and helpful, and I appreciate their kindness and dedication to teaching the timeless craft of hand piecing. I enjoyed being in the QAL with so many other participants and saw many beautiful blocks during this process. Most mentioned how relaxing it was to hand piece. For me it was not that relaxing - LOL! I think I'll save my close handwork for cross stitching and crochet. 😉

Hand piecing has been a pretty intense project for me. After working on the first block, I was about to quit because my hands and neck were sore! I persevered and got my hand sewing muscles on board. The blocks were increasingly complicated, and I learned to sew through seams, not over them. Over time my hand stitching became a little more consistent.

Simple sashing and borders seemed appropriate for these traditional blocks. I was going to add cornerstones in the teal, but I decided to just use that color in the binding instead.

Hand quilting seemed daunting, but I took inspiration from Janine Marie at Quilts from the Little House, who has mad quilting skills and did a fascinating series of posts of her hand-quilting career. So I plunged right in. It took several nights in front of the TV, but I finally finished. I sandwiched the quilt with regular batting, and after consulting with Patty, I realized I should have used thin batting, because for me it made small stitches impossible. So my quilting has a few big, irregular hand stitches - hah! However, as my my Mom used to say, "it'll never be seen from a galloping horse!"

Detail of my grandmother's quilt

I am including a photo of a detail of one of the quilts my dear Granny Mitchell made. Look at that beautiful design she quilted! Her stitches were tiny and evenly spaced. After learning how to make a quilt by hand, I cannot fathom how she had time to make the many quilts that my family still enjoys today!

This little quilt will reside in the guest bedroom with the Scandi throw pillow I made with the same colors.

Quilt details:
9 blocks hand pieced and hand quilted

Finished size:
22" x 22"

Fabrics used:
Desert Bloom Mesa Ivory Plus by Sherri & Chelsi for Moda
Floral Scatter in Teal, Bouquet in Red, and Floral Scroll in Brown, from Bloom Collection by Makower UK
Orange solid from my stash

Background: Off white background from my stash

Binding: Turquoise - Linen Texture Collection by Makower UK

This post is linked to Patty's Hand Pieced QAL Grand Prize Linkup. Click on the link to see many beautiful versions of this quilt!

Hand Pieced QAL Emmeline Block

This is the last block in the Hand Pieced Quilt Along! The tutorial for this block is by Kristin at Simple.Handmade.Everyday, and Pattie's version is here. Several of these blocks have been named by Kristin and Pattie for characters in Friendship Album 1933, a quilt fiction podcast.

Here are all nine blocks; next up is sashing and placement.

This block was a bit more complicated with four flying geese units and little quarter square triangles that make up part of a half square triangle. My points were off, but it's OK. Hand sewing the units of our quilt along involves sewing through seam allowances, not over them, and that can create some bulkiness on the back of the block. Many of the quilt along participants have posted photos of the backs of their neatly done blocks, but mine aren't that pretty, so they shall remain unseen!

This post is linked to Week 9 Linkup. Hop over and view some beautiful versions of these blocks!

Hand Pieced QAL Florence, Eula, and Bess Blocks

It's hard to believe we are almost finished with our hand piecing journey! Patty and Kristin are the brave hosts of this quilt-along, and they named these blocks "Florence", "Eula", and "Bess" after characters in Friendship Album, 1933, a podcast novel. Gardening put my sewing on the back burner for a few days, so instead of weekly, I am posting three this time.

The Florence block is a pinwheel block surrounded by half-square triangles in the corners and flying geese on the sides.

The Eula block is assembled with HSTs (half-square triangles) and flying geese. It's amazing how many different designs can result from little HSTs and flying geese!

The Bess block is made with Flying Geese, Half-Square Triangles (HSTs), and a Square-in-Square. The sub-units are the same as the Eula block but with a different placement.

Since I fell behind, I am linking all three blocks to Patty's linkup for the Bess Block.

Hand Pieced QAL Dorothy Block

This week's block for the Hand Pieced Quilt Along is an Ohio Star block with half square triangles in the corner. The two hosts of this QAL, Patty and Kristin, named this block "Dorothy", after one of the quilters in the novel Friendship Album 1933.

We are finally beginning to combine blocks we have already done, and this block involves half square triangles and quarter square triangles. Again, I did not mark the quarter-inch seams, and the block is a near-perfect 6-1/2 inches. So weird!

Patty hosts the link-up each week, and if you click on this link you can see many pretty blocks done by other participants.

Hand Pieced QAL Quarter Square Triangle

Week 4 of the Hand Pieced Quilt Along features the Quarter Square Triangle. Patty supplied the video and instructions (and encouragement!) This block is also known as the Hour Glass block, and all pieces are cut individually and pieced together.

This time I did not mark seams prior to sewing. I simply eyeballed the quarter inch seams, and lo and behold I finally achieved a 6-1/2 inch square. Lol! Although it was a little bit challenging in the middle of each unit and at the center of the block, I enjoyed sewing these triangles together.

I am linking this post to Patty's Hand Pieced QAL link-up where you can find some very pretty versions of this block!

Hand Pieced QAL Flying Geese

This week's block for Hand Pieced Quilt Along is made with Flying Geese. Kristin at Simple.Handmade.Everyday provided the easy-to-follow tutorial this week. Patty at Elm Street Quilts showed an alternate method called "Stitch and Flip", which is the process I normally follow. And I believe there is at least one other way to make flying geese called the No Waste Method.

These flying geese units are placed in pairs in a pattern called Dutchman's Puzzle. Sewing all these intersections took more time for me, but I still enjoyed the slower pace of hand stitching. My block measures at a slightly wonky 6-3/8 inch, so I'm getting closer to 6-1/2 inches.

I am joining the link-up on Patty's blog, where you will find much more information about this quilt-along as well as links to a growing number of participants' blocks. It's exciting that so many are joining in!

Hand Pieced QAL Half-Square Triangle

Block 2 of Hand-Pieced QAL is Half-Square Triangle. Patty's suggestion in the tutorial was to make one at a time, but I was a rebel and made them two at a time as I always do. Fortunately there are no Hand-Pieced Police monitoring this QAL!

Last week my block measured 1/4 inch less than the suggested 6-1/2 inches square. I was hoping this block would measure correctly, but it is still about 1/8 inch off all around. But it is getting better! I am much more relaxed than I was last week, and I actually look forward to stitching time in front of the TV.

I'm adding this post to Patty's link-up, and you can check out other versions of this block by clicking on it. You can find more information about this QAL by clicking on the logo above. It's never too late to join in the fun, and it really is fun.

Hand Pieced QAL Four-Patch Block

Here is my first completed block of Hand Pieced - A Quilt Along, which is hosted by Patty of Elm Street Quilts and Kristin of Simple. Handmade. Everyday. The block is comprised of four 4-patch blocks for a 16-patch block. Each piece is cut at 2 inches, and the block should finish at 6-1/2 inches all around.

Choosing fabrics is always challenging for me, but I ultimately decided on fabrics that match or complement the pillow I recently made for our guest bedroom.

I made and posted the above block on Instagram and was planning to blog about it. Then I measured it and realized the block was a full quarter inch smaller than the 6-1/2 inches it should be. The reason? I used an ink pen instead of a mechanical pencil to mark quarter inch seam lines on the back of each piece. Each seam I sewed ended up a little over the quarter inch it should have been, and that made the difference.

I decided to redo the block, and this time I marked with the mechanical pencil, which made a thinner line. However, even though the new block measures larger than the first attempt, it is still not at 6-1/2 inches all around. I will sew my subsequent quarter inch seams at a "scant" 1/4 inch.

Kristin's video tutorial shows how to take tiny, even stitches and how to navigate seam allowances. I was surprised at how quickly the actual sewing part went. It is a pleasant, relaxing task while watching TV.

This representation of a completed wall hanging is the layout I chose. The other option is to place the blocks on point, and you can find that representation in this post. I plan to hang mine in our guest bedroom.

I am joining Patty's link-up. Click on the logo to find more information about this QAL. It's not too late to join!