Please use this thread for general conversation. In an effort to avoid congestion in the group members will not be able to start new thread topics. Thank you for understanding.
My first questions are.....where do I begin? Are there any special tools I need to start paper piecing?
Mooresville, NC
Hello Joy,
Thanks for joining us. If you're already a quilter you don't need to buy much more. Some lightweight paper is necessary for printing your pattern. I use Carol Doak's Paper but there are other brands out there that work just as well.
The "Add-a-quarter" ruler is nice but not needed. It has a lip to butts up nicely along the edge of the paper for cutting your quarter inch seam allowance. The link shows you a paper piecing tutorial using this ruler.
You should be able to find these at you LQS or JoAnn Fabrics.
Let me know if I can be of further assistance.
A lot of tutorials on the internet say to press with a dry iron but I don't. I use a wooden iron (or finger press when I can find it). I only use my iron after my block is complete. Any one else do this?
Kris:I use a wooden iron (or finger press when I can find it). I
Kris, I can't say about paper piecing as I have yet to figure it out. But I do alot of finger pressing for some projects. Like step 5 in Bonnie Hunter. I finger press the first triangle seam and then add the second. Turns out fine.
In the beautiful Pacific Northwest!
Judy,
it's good to see I'm not the only one. I find finger pressing reduces fabric distortion (and saves a trip to the iron LOL).
Thank you Kris. I love new gadgets so I will go check these two out after Christmas. I want to make a pp bed sized quilt. Where do I find good patterns? Honestly, I want to do a Mariners Compass. What do you think? Too much for my first project? I have a way of jumping in with both feet and praying I don't drown! LOL!
Joy,
I believe in jumping in too. However, if you've never tried PP, you may want to make sure you like it first. Some people have a hard time working "backwards" (all patterns are mirror images of the finished product) while others hate having to remove all that paper at the end. There are water soluble papers out there but they're a bit more expensive.
I think once you "get" it you'll be fine with any pattern.
Mariner's Compasses can range from simple to quite complex so If you choose one of the easier ones you should be fine.
Take a gander at the ones we made in the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler Group.
Those Mariner's Compass blocks are gorgeous Kris! This will be my New Year's day project! Thank you so much!
Oh! Can you recommend any books with good instructions and paper piecing patterns?
Carol Doak has some great books on paper piecing.
Show Me How to Paper Piece is great for beginners and
300 Paper pieced Quilt Blocks is another good one. It has a CD ROM from which to print your patterns.
50 Little Paper Pieced Blocks has miniature quilt blocks.
A fun book is Jodie Davis' Backyard Bird Quilts, she also has Paper Pieced Bed Quilts. This last one might be hard to find.
I'll do some more research for good books over the weekend. I'll add these to "Pages" as well.
Thanks Kris! I found Paper pieced bed quilts on Amazon and the others too. Now to decide which 2 I am going to order! I can't wait to see what else you come up with!
perfect blocks in minutes, by solomon, has an interesting technique. you PP in subunits and PP the subunits together. you hold everything onto the paper with glue.
gini in north idaho
Gini,
thanks for this info. I think I might be able to do this with freezer paper and eliminate the glue.
Today I watched my first lesson on PP ,so I'm gonna wrok on it today and see if I can so this pinwheel block, I'm alittle nervous so wish me luck .I'll post a picture when I get it finished , This will be just one block .. Barbara
EAT!! SLEEP !! QUILT!!
Barbara,
thanks for sharing your project with us. As I've said on another thread, it's beautiful. I love your fabric choices. If you haven't already please post it in media as well. Thanks Barbara.