Thank You, Bonnie Hunter...

Thanks to watching QuiltCams by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville's Quips and Snips blog, I have learned the time saving joy of chain piecing.  Chain piecing is when you feed your fabric sandwiches under the needle, one after another, without cutting the thread between.  Above you can see the "chain" being processed for a Christmas 12" mini quilt to grace my foyer this holiday season.  It truly is an incredible time (and thread) saver!

However, for the first few times that I employed this time saving method, I still used a pair of scissors to cut the pieces apart...even trimming the ends of the thread even with the fabric.  Egads!  It was cumbersome and wasted all of the time I had just gained!  Then I heard a "trick" for cutting apart your chains quickly and safely.  Enter the lowly letter opener.  I used a piece of "velcro" to attach the opener to my sewing machine for ease of use and removal.  Goodness how that chain just flew through the opener!  Within a few short minutes I had all of my pieces cut apart, ready to feed back through my machine for the next step.

I am now a convert to Bonnie's method and see LOTS of chain piecing in my future.  The only "process" recommendation I can make is to hold the pieces of fabric taut as you pull them down into the letter opener, the connecting thread centered over the blade to be sure not to cut into your fabric.  Give it a try and let me know your thoughts.

Toodles...