How To Hand Piece (Tutorial on Hand Piecing, page 2)

Step 4

barn door figure 4

Back stitch a couple of times and then take about five or six running stitches onto the needle before pulling the thread through. As you take each stitch, keep an eye on the two sides to make sure you are stitching ON the pencilled line.

I make my stitches about one sixteenth of an inch apart. Some fabrics are a little harder to stitch through, for example pima cotton has a high thread count so it is harder to push the needle through. Most normal quilter's cottons are printed on lighter weight fabric with lower thread count so are really easy to stitch through.

Step 5

barn door figure 5

Back stitch approximately every inch and a half. This gives strength to the seam and locks in the stitches. The idea behind this back stitching is if ever the seams come apart (heaven forbid) then the whole seam won't go. Just the part between the back stitches.

The pins are a good marker for when to back stitch. As you reach each second pin then take it out and back stitch.

Don’t worry about whether you are making an exact quarter of an inch seam. You are stitching ON the pencil lines so you are following the exact shape of the template.

If you want to trim the seams even later, you can. You will find when you iron the block flat it will be the size you were aiming for.

Step 6

barn door figure 6

Near the end of the line make two or three back stitches. At the last stitch make a loop big enough to put the needle through easily.

To secure the thread, push the needle back through the loop and then through the loop you just made. Tug the whole mess gently to close it up and make a small knot.

Snip off the thread leaving about half an inch tail.

How to hand piece - page 1
How to hand piece - page 3

Rose Rushbrooke
Artist

Fractal Art Quilts

By Rose Rushbrooke

Book Preview

To A Neon Mini Mart
On character animation

Fun Stuff ...
Quilt block icons
Quilt block animations