quiltingnonie

ALWAYS place fabric piece #1 right sides up on the back side of paper pattern. Every piece thereafter is placed right sides down. Always check the new piece you put down that when you open it after stitching it is covering the section you want covered. (I have taught pp'ing, and I would say that is the #1 mistake for beginners) It is also helpful to place a pin vertically at the start of the stitch line, and one at the end. Insert the pins from the printed side of the paper, flip over and put your fabric over the pin points...that way you make sure you are covering the whole area plus the added amount for the seam allowance. When adding a piece that will be an "edge piece", make sure your fabric extends over the outside edges to allow for the 1/4" seam allowance needed to sew blocks together.

Pepita

I agree with those that stuck with it. I have paper pieced some blocks for a quilt, and as mentioned, all points are perfect, and it all goes together perfectly. However, it is time consuming. While at my lqs they were preparing for a shop hop, and each shop had to make all the blocks. The owner told me it was taking a day to make 1-2 blocks, she was frustrated, in that she had to get it done, but had so much other things to do as well.

I think sticking with it allows you to choose many more blocks. You may just want a few in a quilt. I took a course at the quilt festival from Pepper Cory. 1/2 the blocks were paper pieced and the other 1/2 were pieced. I am really glad I didn't let the paper piecing stop me from taking the course. By the way if you get a chance to take a class from her, I think you will like it. She is very professional, and comes well equipped to teach and help you succeed.

Bluelady

I love paper piecing and the accuracy it gives my blocks. But I can tell you, if I only cut my pieces a 1/2 inch larger than needed, I would be constantly redoing my blocks! For me that just isnt large enough to cover if the fabric moves a bit or I dont line it up perfect. I cut about a 3/4 inch wider on each side, sometimes an inch wider. I get probably waste a lot of fabric, BUT I think wasting it by cutting the pieces too small to begin with is worse.

Anael

I've seen the block and if it's the first time ever you do PP it's not an easy block to do. I would start with an easy one and as said before, print an extra copy and use that to cut out your pieces. Good luck! I didn't love PP at first either but now I prefer PP

davis2se

I found, when I first started paper-piecing, that it REALLY helped to ignore the direction to cut your pieces 1/2 bigger than the pattern area. I went significantly larger than that (and still used very, very little fabric) and had no problems covering the entire pattern area and then cutting to the 1/4 inch seam. Although I've not had to do this, I have also heard someone say that they take a colored marker and mark over all of the lines that MUST NOT be cut, and that this helps them avoid the mistake of inadvertantly cutting off the 1/4 inch seam allowance.

BCaplette

Hang in there. I too had trouble with it but once I set my mind to figuring it out it isn't so bad. I was surprised that the online lesson didn't seem as detailed as previous lessons. I promise you if you focus on it it will come to you. I think the advice to go online and watch some youtube videos is a great one. It helped me with the "learning curve". Don't give up Good luck!

sguillot

I am taking Judy Niemeyer Class and it is paper piecing. This is my first try at it and I to get very fustrated but I'm learing to like it because it is so precise. One day I had an AH Ha Moment for the part I was working on but there are lots of pieces to it so I could be working on this quilt for a while. I think I will try Carol Doaks book and the cards that were mentioned.

nuevaquilter

Thanks for asking this question! The replies in this thread are so helpful. I've been wanting to try PP because as a relatively new quilter, I still don't get the precision that I'd like. But PP seems intimidating (I haven't even tried this month's Craftsy blocks!). I'm going to dive into Carol Doak's website and book and see if I can swim. Keep us posted on how you do!

petpainter

[I]took my first paper piecing class last week with Linda Hahn and her New York Beauty. It took about 45 minutes to "get" flipping the paper over, but after that-everyone left early because they got it. Its copied on a the green packaged
foundation paper from EQ7, it stays in the quilt- feels like a very soft interfacing. I was so excited I already have my fabric picked out for the next one. There is waste with them, but she has patterns for the mini versions that the scraps work perfect with. You use ONE pin, and nobody messed up. It's a great technique. I'm very interested to learn about Carol Doak's technique and see the difference. I am a new quilter, too. I say give it another shot after stepping away, but someone else s technique may work better for you!

GrannyFitz4

My first attempt at paper piecing was a Judy Neimeir class. She is a good instructer, but I was clueless. When I went home, I tried again and again. Finally I got it after lots of wasted material and ripped seams. Now it is my favorite method of piecing. My advice is do not give up. If I can do it, you certainly can.