Sunday, September 2, 2018

That Fairy Tale Quilt

Today over at Kathy's Quilts, Kathy is hosting a photo challenge.

The idea is to post a picture of where we may like to stitch outside.

I always like the idea of peacefully stitching outside under the maple tree in one of my comfy Muskoka chairs, but in real life it never works out for me. Things start blowing around and I end up indoors. 

Maybe a different type of slow-stitching would work better? Perhaps this afternoon I'll try some stitching on my English Paper Piecing project. Nope, not perhaps....I will give it a try!

Part of the problem is, also, that practically all of my hand-stitching occurs between 5:30 and 7:30 in the morning! Today will be spent in the garden, but I'm sure I can take a few moments to enjoy (?) the pleasure of stitching outside.

This morning I worked on the Big Bad Wolf block of That Fairy Tale Quilt by Lucy Carson Kingwell, daughter of Jen Kingwell. This is a quilt I've been eyeing for a while. Little did I know that most of it will be hand-pieced.....another slow-stitching project!





Although hand-piecing can seem a bit fiddly, I find it quite satisfying as it comes together. As opposed to machine-piecing, you don't take time to press the seams as you go....just a bit of finger-pressing. You also don't sew the seams down as you sew across them. The piece ends up looking quite a bubbly mess...




Until the block is finished and is properly pressed...



I know it looks a bit wonky, but that's because the outer seams aren't a precise 1/4", which is quite alright in hand-piecing.

Another thing.... "y" seams are sooooo much easier by hand!

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Have a lovely day....and I hope you get a chance to relax outdoors with a bit of stitchery.

11 comments:

  1. What a fun piece you are working on!! I love the look of hand piecing.. so much softer.

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  2. Such a fun project! I haven't heard of it before so I looked it up and can't wait to watch yours develop! Hope you get some outside stitching time before the snow comes :)

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  3. Oh he looks wonderful! I agree hand piecing is quite different from machine piecing but you can get such great results easily.

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  4. That looks like it will be fun! I've never hand stitched seams like that. Do you use a special kind of stitch?

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  5. Your wolf does not look big or bad! Happy stitching time today!

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  6. Stitching outdoors can be a challenge with the wind, hot sun, insects and all. I get it that you move back indoors. At times hand piecing is more relaxing than machine piecing.

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  7. I like hand piecing a block or small project every once in a while. It's different from EPP (which I do frequently), in the construction. It's soothing, too! Enjoy! :)

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  8. Your wolf looks wonderful. Hand stitching makes a nice change sometimes.

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  9. I purchased this pattern, can we do these blocks by paper piecing instead of hand piecing? thanks in advance

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