Paper Piecing

From what I can tell, there are two types of Paper Piecing – English Paper Piecing (EPP) and Foundation Paper Piecing (also simply called Paper Piecing).

Tales of Cloth gives us an example of EPP, along with a tutorial –

It’s not that I don’t want to try EPP. I just know it’s too much handwork for me.

Maybe Foundation Paper Piecing…

Ah! Sometimes it’s the only way to get precise points… like the 5-pointed star, also known around here as The Texas Star!

I’ve tried paper piecing before… a long time ago. If I remember correctly, I’m thinking the paper I used didn’t tear off nicely. I didn’t care for the way it pulled on the small stitches and left loose paper fibers I had to pick out. No. I decided then and there, there are too many “regular” piecing quilt patterns to make without adding something that totally frustrated me!

However, the focus of this month’s theme ~ Sew for the experience of it ~ is stepping outside the box, out of my comfort zone, and try again with the foundation paper piecing technique!

Over on Right Sides Together stitches & spunk, they provide this cheat sheet and lots of tips! One in particular talks about types of paper to use, with pros and cons on each one!

Back in February, I wrote about a couple of Block of the Month websites I found. One in particular, The Splendid Sampler will have 100 blocks when done! I’ve made many so far, but honestly, they started having lots of appliqué and paper piecing blocks I would just skip over! Designed by Janice Ryan, Block #15 was the first of the paper piecing I skipped!

After I test my abilities on something much simpler like this, the Texas Star!

I will then have the “experience” and confidence to go back & master Block #15!

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