Remember the 6 Unfinished projects I mentioned in my previous post? I decided to totallly ignore those and start a new project instead. And I find I am much more apt to finish a project if I chain piece. I thought I would share some thoughts, in no particular order, about chain piecing.
What is chain piecing? It is where you ‘batch’ a step of your quilt making process. So instead of making one block at a time, you can make 5, or 10 or all of them. I’m working on the new Camille Roskelley pattern Fireworks and this pattern lends itself to Chain Piecing perfectly.
My favorite thing about chain piecing is how much faster everything goes. Although my least favorite thing is how much slower it feels. It can get a bit tedious doing the same step over and over and not getting to see the results of your work right away.
I love that I save on thread, though. And it tends to prevent me from making silly mistakes. And while pressing 100 seams open, I get to listen to books on tape in larger chunks which makes them make more sense.
And I do love seeing my work in pretty piles, ready for the next step.
So, I’m at the point in this pattern where I have 100 ‘Corner’ blocks all finished. Up next are some flying geese and then assembly! Yay!
Are you interested in this pattern? Did you make a Swoon block or quilt already? If you did you will really love this one. And if you need any tips, let me know. Making the pieces 100 at a time makes me a bit of an expert 😉
I love the print on your wall! Where did you find it? Also – loved swoon and can’t wait to start on fireworks with Happy-Go-Lucky for my inlaws!
I have made one Swoon quilt and I use that pattern to teach an advanced beginning class, so I get to see lots of different versions! It was my favorite pattern until Fireworks came out. I haven’t made it yet, but it’s on my list too! I love to chain piece also, but have learned the hard way to make one complete block first to make sure I’m doing it right. Then I get to chain! I can’t wait to see your quilt all finished!
What a gorgeous quilt. I’m green with envy. I don’t know anything about quilting. I’ve been reading blogs and trying to learn from the tutorials shown. There are some really good ones, and others that assume too much. Maybe someday I’ll be good enough to give it a go. Thanks for showing that beautiful pattern, and best of luck with yours.
I made the Swoon quilt and this one is pretty high on my want-to-make list, I just need to come up with a reason why I need to make it!
My grandmother asked me to make her a small version of Fireworks next month. I’d love to hear any other great tips you have to pass on, Amanda!
Awesome post! I can’t wait to see this quilt.
As you know, I’m planning to chain-piece the rest of my Fireworks 🙂 I am glad that I have one pretty, completed block to gaze at for encouragement while I’m doing it though! Ha!
I didn’t make a Swoon quilt, but I do love to chain peice. I find that I’ll chain piece the bits, then put one block together to encourage me to get the rest done when I get to the tedious parts. That said, I have a bunch of HST I chain peiced, then trimmed,then left forever because I was sooo done with the quilt by the time I trimmed 200 HST’s.
I chain piece whenever possible. I even attempt to chain piece when I really shouldn’t. Like when paper piecing.
oh I’m so excited to see you making this pattern! I really like it and am tempted . . . I have done several Swoon . . . one-block minis, a full-size Swoon quilt, and a super-sized Swoon. I have a feeling Fireworks would be just as enticing! Can’t wait to hear/see more!
I just purchased swoon for myself. I am so excited to try this one if I am able to do a nice job on swoon.. I adore this new pattern and her new line of fabric!
I’m looking forward to seeing the finished top!
I haven’t made either of them YET but they are both in the plans – share your tips! Share ’em all! I love shortcuts and knowing what to do correctly the FIRST time. 🙂
This is going to be such a fabulous quilt! I love chain piecing, too, though a lot of the time I’m not organized enough to really do it right. But when I do, I love the momentum towards the end when all the blocks come together so fast!