I'll be sewing along with our hand pieced QAL which starts later this month - grab your copy of the pattern here - and I thought it would be fun to share my favorite tools for hand piecing.
(Disclosure: Some of these are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you buy from them, at no additional cost to you. Rest assured that I only recommend products that I know and love.)
Hand piecing requires a bit of prep work and having the right tools makes all the difference. These are my favorites:
- The Perfect Piecer makes marking sewing lines a breeze! I found the 'rough' surface of this desk to work well but a small cutting mat can be very useful as a portable surface for marking seam lines.
- These Sewline marking pencils are wonderful. The white ceramic one for dark fabrics and the ceramic black for light fabrics. Before this QAL, I used a pencil but this Sewline dark pencil was a game changer!
- Mini binding clips to keep pieces organized
- Templates can be used on paper, glued to cardboard or transferred to template plastic (See a tutorial on using templates.)
When it's time to sew, you need needles, thread, snips, and (optionally) a thimble. You also need great lighting! Here are my favorites:
- Your choice of a needle is really a personal one - I like a short needle while other quilters like to use longer needles. The key thing to look for is a needle that you can thread without issue and one that feels comfortable in your hand. Needles are inexpensive - experiment until you find one that feels right.
- Regular 50 wt quality quilting thread works well but I like to use the Aurifil 80 wt because it is finer it takes up less room in your seams
- Snips (or scissors) are also key - you want something smaller to trim any dog-ears and snip the thread
- For some people, thimbles are critical while hand sewing and I wear a thimble on the middle finger of my right hand while sewing. This one is my favorite!
- Pinning seams is important. I love using short pins designed for applique because they don't get in my way while I am sewing.
- This portable Halo Go light from Daylight is a perfect solution for great lighting. (See my review.)
Pressing your fabrics and your finished blocks is a key ingredient to having a lovely final result. There are two products to recommend here -
- Wool pressing mats (see my review) make a big difference in getting a nice flat block
- I keep my mini irons easily accessible and it makes the job of pressing each block a breeze. (See my review.)
I've going to spend this week prepping my fabrics for the QAL. Hope you are joining us - grab your copy of the pattern here! Read more about Harmony the hand piecing QAL for 2021.
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Excited!! Prepping with you this week.
ReplyDeleteFirst time hand piecing a quilt. I have done Epp. I am really excited about the journey. I will start prepping. Thank you & have a wonderful day
ReplyDeleteI have never hand pieced a quilt, but it is on my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see the products you recommend for hand-piecing. Everything you shared looks similar to what I use for hand-piecing, though I haven't tried 80-weight thread. I use 50-weight. If we had a quilt shop that carried threads, I would likely give it a try. Looks like you'll be making a lovely quilt. Have fun with it!
ReplyDeleteI love my mini iron and pressing mat. Thanks for the tips. I need to get my first block made.
ReplyDelete