Quilt Piecing Techniques

I have found that the quilt piecing process is my favorite part of making a quilt. Of course, I love the look of my finished quilt once I have gone through with all of the other steps, but quilt piecing techniques are my favorite!

This page has wonderful links below to quilt piecing, including paper piecing, English paper piecing, curved piecing, and even specific directions for hand piecing a quilt block. There are many tips and tricks to make quilt piecing easy and accurate.

What is a pieced block?

Piecing is done on the top layer of the quilt. It is assembling and stitching all of the smaller pieces of the fabric together to form a block, which will be joined with other blocks to form the top layer of the quilt.

Quilt piecing can be as simple or as complex as the quilter is inspired to make.  Piecing same-sized squares together to make a quilt top is a simple quilt piecing technique.

On the other hand, smaller pieces can be sewn together to form a block that will be attached to other quilt blocks.  Examples are the log cabin block, the Texas star block, and the nine patch block. This is where you can find free patterns for quilt blocks.

Quilters enjoy choosing different yet coordinating fabrics to piece together to make their quilt blocks.

I began by hand piecing quilt blocks and loved the meditative act of sewing by hand.  I now use a machine to assemble the quilt blocks, which makes it faster and more accurate. 

It took a lot of time for me to accept that the machine quilt piecing technique still counted as making a quilt.  The quilting is also done by machine for my quilts, and there is now inner acceptance that this is still counted as making a quilt. LOL

I had to get out of the black and white thinking and into the gray!

What are the common techniques of quilt piecing?

Quilters can use many different quilt piecing techniques to form their quilt blocks.  Paper piecing, English paper piecing, strip piecing and curved piecing are all examples of quilt piecing techniques used.

For more complex quilt piecing, there are piecing tools and templates, along with many other tools to be sure the piecing is accurate.

What is the best stitch length for quilt piecing?

Most quilters choose to use shorter stitches for piecing their quilts.  The most common choice for quilt piecing stitch length is 2.0mm, or 13 stitches per inch. Sewing machine default settings are larger than this stitch length, so it will be necessary to adjust the stitch length on the machine. 

Using shorter stitch lengths will improve the quilt piecing dramatically.  Changing the stitch length changes how the feed dogs pull the fabric under the sewing machine.  With shorter stitches per inch, the fabric is fed more slowly between the stitches.

Shorter stitches means less distance of fabric movement and less time that the needle is not in touch with the fabric.  This ensures much more accurate stitching lines and seams. It also provides solid and secure stitching to hold the fabric pieces together.  

Do you backstitch when piecing a quilt?

It is not necessary to backstitch when piecing a quilt top.  Because there are several pieces to the quilt block, there will be stitching done across the seams which will lock them in place.

However, I do choose to backstitch when sewing on the last two borders of a quilt.  In my opinion, it is helpful to hold those final seams until the quilting is done.

Scroll down on this page to learn more tips and tricks to quilt piecing a quilt top. You may find that the piecing is your favorite part of making a quilt too!