Piece by Piece

I love to hand embroider and quilt. So, when I saw this quilt being offered as a class at my local quilt shop I was so excited. Well.....that was 3+ years ago. Since then the quilt shop has closed and I lost interest. About 3 weeks ago I was cleaning out the craft studio and came across it again. Interest piqued. I need to finish this quilt. I had 11 blocks finished. The 12th block was cut out and the embroidery lines were all ready traced onto the fabric, but the center "flower" was incomplete. Oh no.....I need just one more purple triangle. Where in the world was that fabric? It has been 3+ years after all.

Above: This is what the quilt will look like when I finish. It is all hand pieced and quilted. I haven't decided whether to actually hand piece the squares and sashes or machine piece them on my featherweight. I haven't done a lot of sewing on my Featherweight so this would be the perfect project.

Above: Here's the completed square. The center flower is appliqued on. I forgot to mention that the "flowers" are all hand pieced. Really very easy and fast. Great to do in front of the TV. This was my first time to really "hand piece". I have hand pieced in the past but that was when I was around 12. I will have to show you that quilt some day.

Above: The last unfinished piece. See that greenish circle in the top right corner. Guess what? Yep...I forgot how to sew that little guy in. Shhh...don't tell, I appliqued it in. That was the easiest thing for me to do. The instructions were not really that clear on how to sew it in and I forgot all of the short cuts and handy tips :(

Above: here's what the "flower" looks like on the back. Do you see the black lines? Those were made by a stamp! This is a Cindy Blackberg quilt and she uses her special stamps in place of paper templates (with her patterns you do have the option to either purchase the stamps or you can use paper templates). I love the stamps, especially if this is your first time hand piecing. Hand piecing is a little different than machine piecing. Notice the inner black line above. This line is the stitching line. I love this quilt and can't wait to finish it. If you have never tried hand piecing, I would suggest you try it. It's a lot of fun and their are a alot of tutorials on line to get you started. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to leave a comment. Oh yea, I did find the purple fabric. It was in a box labeled "Civil War Repod. Fabrics". Gotta love labeled boxes, especially when what is labeled on the box is actually in it!

Have a wonderful day and happy piecing!

Holly