What is Chain Piecing? ( video tutorial )

There is a lot of words thrown around by quilt makers that might leave an outsider or new quilter scratching their head. The What Is Series is where I tackle those topics.

View all articles in the series here.

If you have something that you wanted covered, please let me know by contacting me here.

Chain piecing! That’s what we are talking about today.

If you have been quilting for awhile, do you remember that moment when you first discovered chain piecing or heard of it? Did you palm your face in exasperation? Did you ask yourself why you didn’t think about this VERY obvious method before all those hours you spent sewing square after square after square?

That’s exactly how I discovered chain piecing. I was getting my sewing on everyday, happily, music playing in the background, thinking everything was so great! Then, I bought a pattern that asked me to chain piece and I was all, “Whaaaaaaaat?” Then my furrowed brow turned into an eye roll. Yeah. Obviously. Chain piecing. Duh! How many hours have I wasted slow sewing. I could have been petting fabrics!

I think it probably happens to all of us. If you are new to quilt making, this post is for you. If you have made many quilts, stick around, I’ve got a product that is going to make you go ga-ga at it’s ease of use. I feel like it should be marketed specifically for chain piecing. Let’s get to it!

Product Spotlight

AGF Color Master fat Quarter Bundle includes 10 fat quarters.
Every box is unique and includes randomly selected fat quarter cuts from a mix of Art Gallery collections in a printed designer box.

Pick a color and purchase here.

So what is Chain Piecing?

So let’s say that you are piecing…..ANYTHING. Literally, it is for pretty much every single task of sewing. But let’s give you an example: You are piecing a basic simple patchwork quilt with squares. All of these squares have to be sewn together. Stack in order all of your squares in your first column, then stack all of the squares in the second column. Sew all the first column to all the second column, one after the other, NO cutting the threads that connect them. Just sew and sew and sew!

Don’t like the column method? Prefer row by row? Me too!! Stack a single row. Sew the first square to the second square, sew the third square to the fourth square, and so on and so on. Just keep sewing and don’t cut those threads.

Why am I describing this to you when I can show you??

Need to make half square triangles? Chain piece them.

Sewing corners onto a larger square? Chain piece them.

Making flying geese? Chain piece them.

Yep. It works for everything. Now go sew, sew, sew.

The Dura Snips

The Dura Snips on a Neck Strap have extra sharp and durable high carbon forged steel blades. Easy squeeze action and unbeatable long-lasting sharpness for precise thread snipping. Fits into a safety storage cap on a convenient neck strap. Fun to use; fun to wear. Keep your thread snips close at hand.

The above descriptions is from the Havel’s Sewing website. When I got the snips I was thinking that it would be great to wear them on my neck and always have scissors when I need them. They quickly became so much more than that. They are THE. PERFECT. THREAD. CUTTERS. It’s like they were made for chain piecing. As you can see in my demonstration video, they make chain piecing a breeze. I’ll never chain piece without them again.