Ruby Star

My Ruby Star quilt is coming along nicely.  I like hand piecing because it's very portable.  I keep a few of the joining star pieces in a little bag and I take them with me when I know I'm going to be sitting still for an hour or so.  

This pattern is Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head by Willyne Hammerstein from Millefiori Quilts 4.  I almost wish some raindrops were falling on my head right now - it's been so hot in Wellington and Auckland this summer.  

Here's one of my favourite blocks in this quilt - although I like all of them.  There are so many fussy cutting possibilities with the Ruby Star Society fabrics. 

I made some videos about Hand Piecing and you can find them here if you'd like to give it a go. 

I've got all my pieces made now, so I'm hoping to get another row added this weekend.

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.   Feel free to link up a recent blog post below. 

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Hand Piecing 103 video - 8 pointed stars

Many people have asked me how I got the centre tight on the 8 pointed stars in my first video.  So, I've made a third video explaining how I did it. This video also includes more demonstrations of me stitching, and the tailors' knot.

I learnt this trick for the centres from Willyne Hammerstein when I attended her class at the Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC) in Melbourne in 2018. 

This is Willyne Hammerstein's Moncarapacho quilt that was on display at AQC.  Willyne hand pieced it all and hand quilted it too.  This is hand piecing at its finest!

Even if you've studied my videos really closely, I'd still encourage you to attend a class with a hand piecing tutor if you can.  I've attended 3 hand piecing classes, and I've learnt new tips from each of the tutors. There's nothing like sitting with an expert for a few hours or days.

The Lady Wigram quilt I hand pieced from the Bella Ruby pattern by Treehouse Textiles

There's one remaining area of hand piecing that I might cover yet - curved hand piecing.  Most of us loathe curved piecing on the sewing machine, so I will show you how easy it can be when it's done by hand.

If you missed my earlier links to my hand piecing videos, here they are:

Hand Piecing 101 shows quilters how to hand piece.  It also explains why we hand piece, the options for transferring the stitching lines onto fabric, and the needles, pins and threads required.

Hand Piecing 102 shows how to make hand piecing templates from template plastic.  It explains how to get straight edges on templates, which pens and scissors to use, and how to use the Simple Seam Wheel.

It's so encouraging to hear that many of you are giving hand piecing a go after watching my videos.  Thank you!

Hand Piecing 102 video - making your own templates

Well, I never expected that my video on hand piecing would be so popular!  Thank you for all the positive feedback on my last post and my Hand Piecing 101 video.

I thought that most hand piecers purchased acrylic templates, but there clearly are a lot of people who make their own templates, and many of you wanted tips on how to make accurate templates.

So, my next video, Hand Piecing 102, is all about how to make your own hand piecing templates from template plastic.

You can watch it here:

Hand Piecing 102 explains how to get straight edges on templates, which pens and scissors to use, and how to use the Simple Seam Wheel by Jen Kingwell.

some hand piecing in progress - Jen Kingwell's Marshal Mystery quilt

the ring above turned into this - the purple centre isn't appliqued on yet.

Note that my block isn't perfect - there's a bit of extra fabric in there, but it will OK

As I mention in the video, my block doesn't sit perfectly flat, but it will be OK when I applique it onto the background.  It's hand made so there's bound to be some imperfections.  I can live with that and know for certain that it's better than I could have managed on my sewing machine.


Just like last time, if you have questions or comments, just leave a comment below or on the video, or send me an email via the box on the right hand side of my blog.  Thanks for watching!

And yes, my next video will be about 8 or 10 pointed stars.  I've got all the pieces ready and I just need to convince my cameraman that it's time to start filming!

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  This is where you get to share what you've been working on lately.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Hand Piecing 101 video

Guess what! I made a video.

A number of people have asked me about hand piecing recently so I made a video.  It's just a little home movie - nothing flash - but I think it covers all you need to know.

It's interesting that when I grew up in the 1980's in New Zealand my mum taught me how to English Paper Piece with hexagons.  It was a relaxing way to hand sew fabrics together.

But when I met Willyne Hammerstein from the Netherlands, she said that people in Europe grew up hand piecing, and they didn't understand why we insisted on wrapping fabric around papers (English Paper Piecing).

Now more and more of us who grew up English Paper Piecing are wanting to try hand piecing.  We realise that English Paper Piecing large quilts is hard on our hands and we think hand piecing will be gentler.   I've certainly enjoyed hand piecing the three large quilts I've made to date:

Glitter - designed by Jen Kingwell of Amitie Textiles

Bella Ruby pattern by Emma Di Stefano of Tree House Textiles

Pieces of the Past designed by Wendy Whellum of Legend and Lace

So, my little video will show you how I hand piece.  The actual stitching starts at 10:30 if you want to jump ahead to the sewing part.

I hope you find it useful.  If you have comments or questions just leave a comment below or on the video, or send me an email via the box on the right hand side of my blog.

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  What have you been up to this week?  I've been glued to the Australian Open tennis on TV, but I have been doing quilting while I've been watching.  Feel free to share a recent blog post below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter