Hand Piecing vs. Hand Applique

Well I am really enjoying doing this quilt! I have two others in progress... and both are applique quilts!

Funny, but i find that hand piecing goes sooooo much faster (and easier) than appliqueing with cotton! But go figure, the applique quilts are the ones that i am totally drawn to! Does anyone else feel this way? Just wondering if it's a "lefty thang"? Or if that's pretty normal for ya'll?

I can't even call myself a "quilter"... just a novice beginner, teaching myself how to do these, and exploring the fun of quilting. :0) I have pieced a few tops, but as of yet, have not yet quilted any of them!! I have been very blessed to have a friend who is an amaaazing quilter, who i can go to and ask all my dumb questions!

Haha.. i just wish she lived near me and could come over and give me a lesson in hand quilting!! I am so much a visual learner, and just seeing someone doing it would help immensley, and perhaps take away a little of the intimidation I am feeling whenever i think about it! LOL!

I did check at our local quilt shop, but they looked at me like i had two heads or something, when I asked about hand quilting!! The gal asked me why in the world i would want to do it by hand, and not machine?!?

Well... #1, because i LIKE to hand sew, and i LIKE to work with my hands.

#2, because i have tried machine quilting and absolutely HATED it!! LOLOL it just didn't seem physically "right" to try and maneuver that huge quilt around while it's slung over your shoulder and you are pushing down (straining) to push it forward and still keep a good stitch! LOL!! NOT a happy place for me!! :0)

#3 , and last but not least, i appreciate things of old. Things made completely by hand, with love, tenderness and the desire to bring color into one's home the old fashioned way!

I love old textiles, period! Old hooked rugs, old quilts, old embroidered tea towels, old samplers, old buttons... you name it! :P

So, i set off on learning how to hand piece, and applique my own quilts! Thankfully Laurie was there to answer all my ignorant questions, or else i probably wouldn't have gotten very far! LOL

I am veryy pleased with how this one is coming out!! It is a Jan Patek design, out of the book "Designer Quilts" - Great projects from Moda's best fabric artists.

I have also started Jan Patek's bible quilt, and am excited to get that done this summer while taking the kids to swim lessons!! And... of course i am still hooking! :0) Starting two new designs this month... both are large rugs, so they may take me a while!! I'll post some in progress pics as i go.

blessings,

Bren