Polly, you have gotten a lot of advice already. BG
I enjoy hand piecing, and do a bit of it. VBG I use a running stitch,
very tiny, and finger press as I go. Most of the time the finger
pressing is good until things are ready to be checked for size, trimmed
and so on. Then I press very well, just up and down on the whole
project. first from the wrong side to "set" the seams in the correct
direction. Then from the right side to make sure everything looks good.
I don't do as much backstitching as many, just don't see the need for
it. I do back stitch before and after each intersection.
Some of the best directions for hand piecing I have seen are Linda
Franz's, she even has an almost 2 hour DVD in her second book, Quilted
Diamonds 2. That is the method that I used for the Hoffman quilt last
year. VBG (This year I am using Inklingo and doing the 1" on a side
hexagons by hand.)
The bias edges are actually easier to deal with by hand, because if you
match intersections/or match points along the way you can easily ease in
any stretch that has happened. So much easier to do those "Y" seams by
hand too, especially with continuous stitching. (You don't have to stop
at the end of a seam, add the next piece and keep on going. With a
little planning you can do a lot of short seams with one thread. )

Have fun,
Pati, in Phx

Polly Esther wrote:

There's the beginning of a wonderful tumbling blocks quilt here. Still in
the just playing stage, I'm auditioning many interesting combinations
including batiks, checks, 30's and bugs. There's already a caterpillar
inching up the side of a block. The batiks work great because they are
lovely and can be flipped and turned to make the contrast just right. This
will be a scrappy tumble. The one over at quilters cache called me.
Now, for you hand-piecers. These blocks don't seem to need the hefty
smash I customarily give SM piecing and there are bias edges all over the
place. Do you just give them a gentle glide with a little iron? What steps
do you take to be as sure as you can that hand-piecing is as sturdy as you
can make it? I would simply croak if this beauty fell to pieces if anybody
dared to sit on my quilt. Polly