Portable Piecing

I enjoy watching TV, DVD's and listening to audio books and while I do this I like to keep my hands busy so I very much enjoy doing some stitching at the same time.

Hand pieced patchwork is portable, compact and lightweight and makes a wonderful project to keep your hand busy when nothing else needs your full attention.  It is often easier to piece complicated blocks by hand rather than machine and it is surprising how much you can achieve at a time when you would not normally be working at a machine.  On many of my quilts I mix hand and machine stitching and am always happy with the result.

The other thing I like about hand piecing is that it is something I can do when socialising with family and friends.

I also enjoy the portability of this form of patchwork and always take some hand piecing when I travel.  This photo of me hand piecing was taken in flight on Singapore Airlines on a recent trip overseas.

This is the kit I usually pack when flying with my fabric pieces pre cut and stored in little zip bags.  If I am travelling by other means then I usually pack some embroidery scissors on a zinger which I attach to my clothing so the scissors don't go astray.

I will be starting "Stitching by Hand" classes at Cairns Craft Centre in February for anyone keen to learn more about this wonderful form of patchwork.

Till next time
Frances

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pickle Dish, DWR and friends

Image
Well its been a while but I have been inspired to post after seeing my quilt "In a Pretty Pickle" on the cover of the latest "Homespun" magazine https://www.facebook.com/frances.leate with the full project instructions featured inside with a brief profile about me.  This quilt was machine pieced and quilted on my Bernina domestic machine. "In a Pretty Pickle" by Frances Leate featured in Homespun, November 2017 Issue The Double Wedding Ring quilt with its melon shapes and curved centres has inspired me to design a series of quilts in this style.  One of these designs was "Ring of Roses" which featured solid arcs rather than pieced ones with applique on the centre pieces and melons.  This quilt was published as a project in Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol 25 No 12.  I hand pieced and hand appliqued this quilt using the fusible applique method and then quilted it on my domestic Bernina. "Ring of Roses" by Frances Leat...
Read more

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Image
  Its that time of year again when Amy over at Amy's Creative Side  is organising an online quilt festival so I thought I would add my quilt "Concerto for Mixed Peel" to the all the fun.     "Concerto for Mixed Peel" by Frances Leate This quilt is approximately 78" square and has been created using the Orange Peel block in three different sizes.  The blocks were hand appliqued using the fusible method with blanket stitch.  I chose this method of applique as I needed a very portable project at the time and this proved to be just the thing.  I  quilted "Concerto for Mixed Peel" on my Bernina 440 machine in a simple style and then added the scalloped edging.  It was commissioned by Australian Homespun magazine and the brief was for a quilt using the orange peel block, thirties style fabrics and to be bright and fresh in colour.  The project was published in Homespun No. 105 Vol 13 No 2.     Till next t...
Read more

Civil War Blocks

Image
I have finally caught up with my blocks for the Civil War Quilt and here are blocks 37 to 45.  These blocks have been pieced by hand and machine and there is also some needleturn applique. Here is a quick photo of all the blocks lined up together on my small design wall.  With only 8 blocks to go it is time to start thinking about how to set them all and Barbara Brackman has some great ideas over at Civil War Quilts  .  At the moment I am think of straight sashing with cornerstones but I have been known to change my mind (at least once or twice).  I have really enjoyed being part of this stitchalong project. Till next time Frances
Read more