Yup, I agree with the above posts. I do everything by hand, and I don't see how the blocks would automatically turn out too big just because you sew by hand. I will say, though, that it is essential for me to have stitch lines drawn onto the pieces. From what I read, people on machines emphasize perfectly accurate cutting so that they can carefully sew a perfect 1/4 inch seam by a guide on the machine. Then, they don't have to mark at all, you see. I have a couple of excellent books, "Quiltmaking by Hand" from Jenny Beyer, and "Mastering Precision Piecing" from Sally Collins. They both include sections on making accurate templates, and they both swear (at length) that templates should include the seam allowance. That way you can pin four or so layers of fabric together and your cutting goes a lot faster. When you're making your template, you use an extra fine Sharpie to make dots at the seam intersections, and later punch them out with a 1/16 inch hole punch. When you get to sewing, you line up your edges (very helpful here if the fabric was starched before cutting) and lay the template again to mark the dots on the top piece facing you. If you need help to sew a straight line (like I always do) you can lightly connect the dots, too. For hand sewing, this way keeps the speed of cutting 3-4 layers at once, and eliminates the effort of drawing stitch lines and dots on every piece, that you then find yourself flipping over a thousand times checking the back stitch line. If you draw the stitch line, and then eyeball the 1/4 inch seam as you cut it, planning to match the stitch lines as you hand sew, you have to draw and cut one piece at a time, and take extreme care as you pin through the dots, and since the seam allowances are uneven, you have to pin lots mores along the stitch lines as you flip back and forth to check alignment. When you make a template, be aware that every time you draw around a shape, your line has added width to the shape. You always use the inside edge of your line as the cutting line, not the middle of your line. It's useful to have a very fine point mechanical pencil that will snug right up to your template, and even so, after you cut there shouldn't be any line left on your piece. If you rotary cut, the same goes for the lines on your ruler. They have width. Always take care that the line obliterates the edge of your fabric, not just butts right up to it, and never showing a couple threads on the other side of the line. It seems trivial, but if you add 1/32 inch to every edge, then that's 1/16 to each piece. If your block has a row with eight pieces to match up to some other part, then the eight piece row will be 1/2 inch (8/16) inch too wide. Hootie hoot ! What a long mixed up rambling of a post! I'm leaving it anyway, since maybe it will help you. The main thing you could do is get either one of those books. They are both thirty bucks, and I enjoy Jenny's the most as a good and comprehensive read--even though I don't do the quilting like she does-- but Sally's is half as thick and straight to the point of accurate piecing, with some really good pictures, but nothing on hand quilting. (Be aware that I love books.)

Sharon, I have the Cascading Stars as well as the Shaded Log Cabin by Karen Combs, my problems is which do plan first. Maybe I should plan on the Stars and we can encourage each other.... I'm slow and you'd beat me by a (mile) year... ha ha Jacke - (going in to look at stash)

I found the information below on a hint/tip site...maybe it will work...if so...please post pictures and let us know how it worked. Marty "Here's a great idea! I was about to throw out an old card table (with a fiber cardboard top)....then an idea hit me, convert it into a portable quilting frame! I removed the top with my trusty butcher knife, as close to the edge as it would allow. Using fabric scraps I wrapped the edge and securely fastened the fabric to it with a staple gun. I fastened my quilt to the edges with binder clips. Presto! A fantastic, portable, easily stored quilting frame!"

Some or all the above for me, too. I really like color and design over the others but they count, too. Sometimes the design isn't that special but the fabrics are. I have a couple of scrappy quilts that I can't stop gazing at whenever I walk past because each little scrap stays in my memory of what the original quilt was that the fabric was bought for. I made a quilt last year from Missouri Star Quilt tutorials that I gave to DH and I keep telling him I'm going to take it back because I love it so much - called "Pecking Order". This one I'm working on right now I think is going to be one of those special quilts, color, design and quilting design. And I especially love Log Cabin quilts because they are so easy to make.