Sometimes I wonder if I’m too old-fashioned, if I’m the only one who does this. So I’ll confess–I hand-piece. While it’s about 40x slower than machine piecing, I love it!

Reasons include: I can piece while reading, I can piece while watching tv,. I can piece while on the metro, I can piece while riding with Micah, I can piece in class (used to do that)…you get the picture. And most simple piecing doesn’t distract me at all from my other activities.

One thing I only started doing 2 years ago is string-piecing. As pictured above, when I have a lot of the same two pieces to connect, I do it in a string. I tie knots for each piece, of course. One doesn’t always have to do that when it’s done by machine.

It’s like machine piecing I’ve seen some people do. I choose to do it because it’s easier for me to keep track of all those little pieces.

Then I cut the pieces apart and pin them together to form a neat pile. Leaving them in a string like that for too long gets them tangled and can turn out ugly.

How do you piece? Do you bring it with you?

I really haven’t picked up a needle and thread in such a long time. My life got kind of busy near the end of December as I was trying to balance all my jobs and freelancing and Christmas and the like. Even now, my blog keeps me really busy when I’m not working.

But quilting is really important to me—it soothes my soul, it helps me feel creative and connected. It’s something where I don’t normally worry about getting paid or anything. Plus, these preemie quilts are a way of giving to others. Not only is loving others the right thing to do, it’s emotionally and spiritually beneficial for us most of the time.

At my job, I see a lot of preemies. I talk to their parents. I interact with the nurses who care for them day in and day out. I hold their little hands while I’m testing them or I pick them up and soothe them if they’re crying. Even if they’re not crying, I lift their tiny bodies when I turn them over to test the other ear.

Preemies are little miracles. It astounds me that your average 40 week 7.5 lb baby is so small and yet so complete—with fingers, toes, eyes, everything. Some are even alert enough to pull the probe out of their ears. But preemies—even smaller, born at maybe 28 weeks and 2-4 lbs are still so often so perfect. I don’t interact with the littlest ones, since we don’t test until they’re about ready to go home. But I stand there in awe by their isolets and watch them sleep or observe the world.

All that to say that the square above is from a preemie quilt I’m working on. It’ll have four such squares and some nice sashing. Probably about 22″ x 22″ when finished. It’s not yet pressed, so it won’t lie flat.

in updating this, but I didn’t have a camera handy for a bit.

What I’m working on right now: I’m working on refurbishing a quilt. It’s a tricky business, I have to replace some of the squares. And others I just have to sew down from the inside…that is, I put a piece of unbleached muslin under them and I tack them down onto it. I’ll do this for the squares (9 patch) which don’t have more than one patch with a problem and the problem’s not very big.

So far I’ve only done the tacking down, haven’t replaced any squares yet. I’m starting in my comfort zone.

Quilt repair is a delicate process, after all. This quilt is about 30 years old and the fabric is frayed. While repairing it, I’ve realized once again why I believe in sewing with double thread, not a single strand–sometimes the strand was at fault, not the fraying.

This can be a horribly boring process, however, so I’m amusing myself by watching Family Guy. What I really should do (now that this kind of this is becoming a side-business for me) is borrow books on tape/cd from the local library. I can get it my reading and still get work done.

Oooh…or maybe the iTunes business school thing Nina talked about at Queercents. I don’t have an iPod yet but I could use my computer to listen to them.

Interested in getting your quilt repaired? Contact me using the contact form in the sidebar

In honor of my Dada (grandfather) who died of senile dementia in 2002, I’m working on miniature quilts for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative project called Priority: Alzheimers.

They take quilts that are 9″ x 12″ or smaller and auction them off online to raise money for Alzheimer’s research.

My goal: To make one miniature quilt for every member of that side of family in 2002 (including Dada). That means 12 quilts. (I’m not counting one cousin by marriage.)

So far, I have 9–plus one I made in honor of a little girl, using the fabric from her Halloween costume. I’ll put that at the bottom–it’s the turkey!

I’ll be presenting these quilts to my Dada’s side of the family after Christmas and then mailing them in to be auctioned off. I’ll post here when that happens!