The Village Quilt, hand piecing the house block

Hi All,

Now that Liza has the pattern ready to ship:
http://www.gloriouscolor.com/store.php?cat=574

I'll go through the way I do hand piecing, of course the block is easily pieced by machine, I tend to hand piece as I'm not good with the machine.
If you would like to see the fabrics used in my quilt, please see in Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/km0089/

So here we go, firstly, this is the block diagram:

              

Then you make the sewing templates (without seam allowance), I use the Mylar plastic, it is thin enough for easy cutting and firm enough to have the sharp pencil (2B) go aound the template.

                               

I put notches on my sewing templates, these notches will be registered on the fabric when I'm marking the pieces with pencil, and later, when I'm sewing, I can line up the pieces easily, for example, on these:

                                       

and on the roof front, put a notch on the base of the triangle, the three sides almost look the same.
                                        

In the pattern pack, there is a chart for cutting up the pieces, follow that and cut up your selected fabrics. This chart includes the 1/4" seam allowance.
I would start by choosing a fabric for the largest piece, the roof and it might be nice if you can fussy cut this one.
Then choose the roof front. In many of my houses, I've used this same fabric for the H piece.
Then choose a fabric for the building, then the contrast. Don't over agonise when choosing fabrics, it will take too long and usually your first choice is the correct one anyway. I've kept the chimney and background constant. The background I used was Spot - in Apple Green, it's a brilliant fabric, it is a warm colour even though it is green, if that makes sense!

Using the sewing templates, mark all the pieces and lay it out and check that you have all the pieces.
( oops, the photo does not show the correct placement, but they are all there)
                                       

And close up, you can see the notches marked on the sewing lines:
                                        

to sew, place the pieces, right sides of fabric together and on the wrong side, put a pin through the two layers on the end points
                                        

sew, and check the other side that the sewing is on the line.
                                         

sew the A to B to C to B to A
                                         

then sew: K to M to L to D
                                       

                                         

Unlike sewing by machine where you sew over the seams, in hand piecing you leave the seam allowance loose.
                                        

                                         

Follow this method and sew the other pieces together,
                                        

                                         

All done, back view and from the front:
                                        

It's pretty easy isn't it. Also, I don't press hand pieced blocks, I've found that they tend to stretch. The block will  flatten out by itself when they are joined together into a a big quilt. You can press then, before you layer the quilt top with the batting and backing fabric ready to baste and quilt.Now, all you have to do is sew 25 of these little babies! Have fun and post your photos, I'd love to see them.
If you have any question, please let me know and I'll try and answer. Cheers, K