annette1952

Wow they are gorgeous blocks. Love the little secondary pinwheel block. Going to be a gorgeous quilt

csknott

Very pretty! !

Tartan

​Great top and cute pinwheels! I have used the stars that go in the sashing for a quilt top.

mojo11

Holy moly.......beautiful!

Basketman

I can add to chorus of admiration for a great job, awesome selection of colors and a quilt destined to be totally amazing when finished! If I recall correctly(?) I think I remember this project being one of self exploration and a learn as you do experience ( with a Carol Doak book in hand) and now that it is reaching such a glorious conclusion...what have you learned to do, buy or incorporate that makes paper piecing easier, blocks better and what have you learned to avoid?
I recognize that this is a rather sweeping question, but I am sure there a lot of people here drooling and just a bit hesitant to start or restart doing paper piecing because of bad press or a not so great class...and your input can be so very helpful!

rosiewell

Beautiful, your sashing goes great with the quilt, I love the posts.

Monale

Thanks for all the compliments on my stars! You're right, it was very much learning by doing!

I think one thing that came spontaneously to my mind when you ask about what I've learned is the following (please keep in mind that this was my first PP experience - it is probably common knowledge to most of you!): I find the hardest part is tearing the paper out of the finished block. I learned that it works best if before joining the segments, I would tear off the corners of the paper that would overlap. I didn't do this in the first few stars and it made it really hard...

I actually started with the first three, four stars a couple of years back (when I had access to my mom's sewing machine). I just did them with whatever fabric I had at the time (and I had no yardage back then, only scraps). Although they were made from all different fabrics, I tried to have some of the fabrics show up again in another star. That would probably have been easier if I'd planned ahead... But it was "do-it-as-you-go" and somehow worked out IMO although I didn't have any fabric left from those original stars when I continued sewing a few weeks ago.

Another (embarrassing...) lesson: I should have bought more of that sashing/border fabric last Saturday... Too late now, but I'm somehow going to make it last...

Not sure if this is what you had in mind, but I hope it's helpful to some! I'm still quite a newbie and realise that I learn A LOT with every piece of work I do - not least because of all the help and tipps I get on this board! You guys are my quilting teachers!

woodyandjake

Beautiful, love the colors and the sashing.

Basketman

This latest reply of yours is exactly what I sought...especially when it is fresh off the press while you are making this great quilt and reflecting on the process. I can see with each star the definition and intersections becoming more and more accurate. Nothing like learning by doing. I am a mere two quilts ahead of you, but you mentioned something about removing the paper and that brought something to my mind. I found that punching each line of a design with a tracing wheel and then using the suggested shorter stitch further weakened the paper and made it easier to remove. I also remember another posting mentioning a damp Qtip applied to the really tight corners allowing a maker to almost rub the paper off? I later found a technique on utube and learned by using freezer paper... that can eliminate sewing through paper altogether.

I wonder if we started a thread or created a category just for paper piecing ...how many pages and great replies we might have as a resource for quilters, and how this sometimes loathed but great technique could be made less challenging?

tuckyquilter

Excellent Choice