Wednesday 16 October 2013

Hand Piecing - WIP

If you've been following me on Instagram you would have seen that I've been attacked by a mosquito and subsequently put on bed rest .... pesky little bugger.

Which means that all machine sewing has been put on hold ... which means that my MiL's quilt has also been put on hold.  I'd managed to get it to the stage of framing all of the story blocks.



and had cut out about a quarter of the quota of 2.5" squares that's required to pad it out to a queen size quilt.



and that, sadly, is where it stays.  It looks as though I'll be missing my November deadline for THE BIG FINISH and to be honest I'm totally bummed.

But you can't keep a quilter down!  So I've been finding little projects I can do in the confinement of my bed including a little cross stitching ..



and I've also started on my Farmer's Wife quilt, which I'm hand piecing.  I was planning on starting this quilt after finishing my MiL's quilt but 'C'est la vie'.

I've started with the Butterfly block or block 14 ... butterflies cheer me up!



So far I've managed to piece 8 HST (my first ever whether by hand or machine!!)



I'm starting to get nice consistent stitches on my needle.



I'm using Gutermann quilting thread to piece.  It may seem like a strange choice but ...



I find the toughness of it reassuring (like it's going to hold together forever!) and it is also a slightly slippery or waxy thread and I find that easier to pull through the layers especially where there are seams to sew through.

I've almost completed the top left hand part of the block and am finding the whole process quite relaxing - even healing.



Although my little sandwich bag for storing my hand sewing supplies is somewhat lacking in glamour ... what do you use to store your hand sewing? 



Pop a link in the comments if you've made something to store your hand sewing in - I'd love to see.

Linking up with WIP at Freshly Pieced.  Thank goodness for you crafty lot out there - I'd be bored big time without my laptop and your lovely blogs to read in bed :)  AND thank goodness for my hubby who is doing a stellar job as Mr Mum!

Sx

9 comments:

  1. The blocks for your MiL's quilt are looking so lovely together! Shame you are on enforced rest thanks to the rotten mozzie! But looks like you are still being very productive - your hand sewing looks fab! Hope you are feeling better soon!

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  2. Please remember to rest and don't over do it...Love you lots xxxx

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    1. I will ... just keeping my finger tips and brain busy - the rest of me is resting (I promise!)

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  3. Beautiful quilt for the MIL Serena! And those hand pieced HST are awesome. Hard to keep a good quilter down. Hope you heal soon - thanks for stopping by the blog! Karen

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  4. Love your MIL quilt ...enjoy the hand piecing. It will help the hours pass. Please take it easy ..hoping you get better soon. Marie x

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    1. Thank you Marie, I'm getting there slowly and the hand piecing is a lovely distraction - I've almost finished the butterfly block :) ps I've replied here as you are a no-reply blogger :(

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  5. Sorry to hear that you are on bed rest and hope that you are feeling well. That is a plus that you have started to do the hand sewing. And you are sew right - You can't keep a good quilter down! You go girlfriend!

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  6. I missed the story about you being bitten by a mosquiito. I hope you're better soon. You'll love hand sewing. It can be quite addictive. I use plastic ziplock bags too for carrying around my pieces. It's just sensible.. Your MIL blocks look great too, lots of tricky paper piecing!

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  7. I don't have a craft room or anything ( thanks for emailing me by the way : ) so I sew ( hand or machine ) in my dining room. I have a dry sink with a stack of baskets and the smallest basket has the everyday thread ( Guterman regular and quilting ) and needles, small sewing scissors, etc. This post http://www.frugallittlebungalow.com/baskets-and-laura-ingalls-wilder/ shows one part ( those baskets ) and then there is another post showing the rest of the room. If I put 2 links in this reply I think I'll go to spam ( Mine is set up that way ) so i'll just reference the other post ...it was called another pillow and my red hutch. In that hutch are more little containers and sewing baskets with some more 'junk' :) I have some applique that I just started and I wanted to hand piece a block or two just to remember how, and then if you only have 10 minutes or so, you can sew a little without dragging out the machine. When I drag that out I want to have it out for a good bit of time. I like your color choices and what you have going on and hope you get better soon :)

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