Hand piecing

Amazing how we sometimes get in a groove and forget about something for awhile. For me, it's handwork. I love to cross stitch. I don't mind hand slip-stitching my bindings on my quilt--I'm pretty dang fast once I get going, and my stitches are pretty even. I like being able to have control over the fabric and my stitches. And it's really relaxing for me. Having something creative and productive to do with my hands frees up my mind for listening or thinking. I wish I could take handwork to church meetings! One of my favorite things is cuddling up comfy with my cross stitch, quilt, dress hem, template plastics, or other project, and watching my favorite movie. Sometimes, even at work I can squeeze it in. I work as a Registrar in the Emergency Room, so sometimes if I'm working check-in registration in Triage for walk-in patients, there's downtime. I call myself a pretty voracious reader, but sometimes it's nice to have something besides reading to do during downtime.
Somehow I had the inspiration to take my Dresden plate with me last Sunday, when I worked at a smaller hospital last Sunday morning. And I was able to get 3 quarters of my Dresden hand-pieced in between patients. And it's fun explaining to patients and coworkers what I'm doing, and sharing what I love to do with others.
So then I decided to try the Winding Ways with hand piecing. I have to admit that I enjoy the curves even more with hand piecing, because you have much more control over the fabrics, especially with smaller pieces.

WIP Wednesday, sampler tip

Hi all!
I guess I'm starting to get confused with all the things I want to do/ have started. Here's my list:
1-Casings and hems on my peasant blouse.
2-start sewing the skirt for my sister-in-law. The pieces are sitting on my table.
3-Cut and mark corner patches for my Winding Ways block, for my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I ran out of background fabric while cutting the last few blocks. I bought and washed more (and cut out my peasant blouse from it) recently). I guess I forgot to write down which patches I had missed, because when I pulled the Winding Ways Baggie so I could hand piece at work, I found out which ones I missed!

Tip: when doing samplers, I like to sit and cut pieces for each block all at once. To keep them sorted, I put each block into zipper plastic baggies, with the cut patches, cutting and piecing instructions, and the picture of the block colored with the fabrics. (My Quilt-Pro software prints out all of that on one sheet.. Well, except for piecing instructions--books are great for that!) Then all the baggies get stacked into a bucket for that project. Include the book or anything else you'll need for reference in the basket.
That way, when I feel like sewing, all I have to do is pull out a Baggie, layout the patches into the block, and start sewing!

End of the day Report on what I actually accomplished:
Got all the pieces for the Winding Ways block, in 12" size, and almost a of the pieces for a 6" version. That happened in between sharing my folding table with the little guys' puzzles and coloring, and learning Signing Time. Oh yeah, and starting to potty train!
Peasant blouse: Got the hems done, and the elastic casings for sleeves and waist secure, ready to thread elastic. Then I discovered I am out of 1/4" elastic for the sleeves. Darn it! Guess that's a good place to quit for the night.