Handpieced Doll Quilt

Many years ago, I took a handpiecing class from the gracious Betty Anderson, owner of the now shuttered Quilting B in Clackamas, Oregon, where I first learned to quilt! In this class, we worked on a small ninepatch doll quilt pattern from the book Celebrate! with Little Quilts (That Patchwork Place, 1995) by Alice Berg, Mary Ellen Von Holt, and Sylvia Johnson.

I loved having the handwork to take with me, but like many of my UFO projects, this one was put aside. As part of my new quilting goals, I took this with me on spring break vacation last week where I laid out the blocks, book, and remaining pieces to finish the last two blocks.

I worked on it all week and accomplished my goal of getting the quilt top completely pieced. It measures approximately 16" x 19". Tea-dyeing the top is a way to make new fabrics have an instant aged look, but I think I will keep this one the way it is. I will handquilt it with a simple design and add a medium or dark blue binding.

Handpiecing is a great way to get blocks pieced when you are away from your sewing machine. The secret is to have some piecework ready to go so you can work on them anywhere. Although I don't plan to tackle another handpiecing project soon, I do enjoy some relaxing handwork, which is typically accomplished for me when attaching a binding to a quilt.

Copyright ©2011, Sharon Baggs