The more you paperpiece the easier it becomes to judge the size to cut. Except for those elongated diamonds--I always cut them too short. I also have a large apothecary jar I throw all the odd shaped scraps in and use them as needed for smaller pieces. I love the precision of pp-ing. I will also NEVER use all the fabric in my collection (it's too small to be called a stash) unless I live to 114 years old. No guilt about some waste.
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Carol Doaks patterns include directions what size to cut each piece. I dont think I could do a pattern where I had to figure out the size myself.
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Originally Posted by janRN
(Post 6091548)
The more you paperpiece the easier it becomes to judge the size to cut. Except for those elongated diamonds--I always cut them too short. I also have a large apothecary jar I throw all the odd shaped scraps in and use them as needed for smaller pieces. I love the precision of pp-ing. I will also NEVER use all the fabric in my collection (it's too small to be called a stash) unless I live to 114 years old. No guilt about some waste.
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Love paperpiecing, perfect points! Worth alittle waste!
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Once you're a bit more experienced, you will teach yourself tips and tricks to reduce waste. For instance, I make an extra copy or two of the block pattern, and cut out each section with an extra 1/4" all around. I mark the sections so I know which way goes up, and use them as templates for cutting fabric. I make one test block first, to make sure everything is covered.
Hope this helps. |
I LOVE to paper piece. Once you get going with a project it is pretty much easy going!! Alex Anderson's book gives you specific size directions. Once you do a few you can pretty much tell how big you need to make each piece. I love collecting scraps that nobody else wants for miniature paper piecing blocks. I never feel like I'm wasting that much fabric at all
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Originally Posted by Peckish
(Post 6091952)
Once you're a bit more experienced, you will teach yourself tips and tricks to reduce waste. For instance, I make an extra copy or two of the block pattern, and cut out each section with an extra 1/4" all around. I mark the sections so I know which way goes up, and use them as templates for cutting fabric. I make one test block first, to make sure everything is covered.
Hope this helps. |
The only reason I make a test block first is because once I pre-cut all my pieces, then discovered that I had flipped one piece the wrong way and alllll the fabric I had cut was wrong. Boo hoooooo! :(
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Originally Posted by nanna-up-north
(Post 6091519)
Since I mostly use smaller pieces of fabric from my scraps boxes I don't worry much about the waste. At least I'm using up those smaller pieces and they aren't going to waste. Well, they won't go to WASTE, but some of them sit for years before they get used up. I have boxes for most colors and anything smaller than a FQ goes in them. Really small scraps go into bags that I plan to use for a crumb quilt when I get a few more UFOs finished.
I love PP for the great points, etc. like others have said but I like them because they work for so many things, .......sailboats for a little boy's quilt, elephants on a baby quilt, etc. They are fun to do. |
visit Carol Doak's web site- she has great tips, help to teach you to cut your fabrics so you have a minimum amount of waste. it is possible to paper piece without wasting a lot of fabric
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