pennyhal2

I enjoy paper piecing, especially for small pieces. When I make small quilts to put into window cards, it really helped. I recently purchased some paper for paper piecing that tears more easily, but I haven't used it yet. I'll let you know how it worked soon.

cashs_mom

I like paper piecing. I learned it years ago the standard way on an easy 5 point star pattern. I've also done Quilt Maven Dave's class on what he calls No Tears Paperpiecing. His method doesn't work for all patterns but is easy and you don't have any paper to remove at the end.

Onebyone

I took a Judy Niemeyer class and that method of paperpiecing is not for me. It was tedious and wastes so much time. I did it her way in class with smiles but when I brought the project home I used the basic way to finish it. If you buy a kit you have to use her way or not have enough fabric. Her patterns are beautiful and I do buy her patterns just don't follow her method.

sewingpup

The Judy Niemeyer class I took, we got the pattern and templates and then we bought our own fabric so we could buy more if we wanted. I remember that I actually bought a batik backing because I liked the fabric and used in the front and had enough to still make the backing and binding out of it. It was a time-consuming project, but I did enjoy it. My problem is I don't know what to do with the finished quilt as it really was a wall quilt, and I certainly don't have the wall space for it. I did give it to my nephew to hang in his new house.

Gay

Just browsing and found this quilt photo, Beautiful.

Hidden Circles

lindaschipper

Gay....this appears to be the same pattern, but turned from a table runner into a bed quilt. I've already ordered my pattern, but this one is a tad bit cheaper, not counting postage. I plan on using some of my million of scraps, and also using tan, neutrals, cream and beige where this one has the large white pieces. We'll see how far I get!

Peckish

I love paper piecing. I love the accuracy I get when I use that technique.

For beginners, I usually recommend that they either choose a pattern that has symmetrical pieces, or you choose batiks. The reason why is because a lot of people struggle with cutting and/or sewing the pieces backwards. If the patches are symmetrical, it doesn't matter if you cut the pieces wrong. Same goes for batiks - you can easily flip the patch upside down and it will work.

Quiltwoman44

I took a judy N class but never finished the item we worked on making. She is tough. for me anyway.

ElaineCovid

I love paper piecing. The best "tip" I can say is to baste (using a 4.0 stitch length) the first time or two to get a feel for how things work. I often would end up with an irregularly shaped piece looking right to my brain, then after stitching, found out it didn't quite reach where/how I thought it would.
The other version of this is to "pinch and peak" to see if it will fit. You pinch the fabrics together along the seam, then flip while holding and test to see if it will fit. Not as exact as basting, but no seam to rip out if it's wrong.
Good luck and enjoy.
I think it's good for our brains to learn to look at things in a new way.

cashs_mom

I don't cut the pieces to fit. What I usually do is cut a strip of fabric wider than I need and then sew it on, fold, trim. It takes less time and I have fewer "Oops. My piece isn't big enough" times