When I first started quilting, I read somewhere that the knots were not to show so I figured out how to hand piece without knots. That way they wouldn’t show. They wouldn’t be there. I started about one inch out from the starting point, sewed to the starting point and then sewed the seam. It worked and the seams never came apart.
When my youngest daughter was headed to college, I started a quilt for her. Sometime during the making of the quilt, I ended up in the hospital. I took the pieces and continued to hand piece the quilt. One of the nurses told me that I could make the quilt much faster if I sewed by machine. I told her that they didn’t allow machines in the hospital and she agreed. It did put a thought in my head and this quilt is the last one that I hand pieced. It is hand quilted though. I hadn’t gone that far in my quilt journey. 
I do have to say that I still hand piece Grandmother’s Flower Garden Quilts and most of my applique. Hand work is relaxing.
At this point in my quilting life, I didn’t have a stash, rulers, or any of the special tools that I have now. I made this quilt with two pins and a needle, and, of course, fabric and thread. It was so much easier then. One quilt at a time. No UFO’s. No scraps. Someday, I’m going to teach a class called “Two Pins and a Needle”. It would be fun.
Have a great day and happy quilting.
Miss Molly quilts 