Paper Piecing

When you hear a pattern calls for paper piecing, do you do a little happy dance or do you break out in a cold sweat?  It's been the latter for me until recently.  I wouldn't say I go about dancing at the idea of paper piecing, but at least I don't now panic at the thought.

MQG Webinar

As members of The Modern Quilt Guild, we have access to an amazing array of talented teachers.  The latest example is a free Paper Piecing webinar with Elizabeth Dackson.  You should have received an email from The Modern Quilt Guild with a link to register for the April 28th webinar.  Regardless of your paper piecing skills,  I am sure you will learn something useful from Elizabeth.

Recently, a bee mate of mine provided links to paper piecing tutorials and a list of tips that I thought you may find useful:

          You Tube Tutorials:

• Connecting Threads(uses vellum and add- a-quarter ruler)
  
• Sew Easy (uses regular ruler)
  
• The Crafty Gemini (uses regular ruler) 

0. Tips:
   

• If you don’t have an Add-a-Quarter ruler, you might want to get one. You can do paper piecing with your regular ruler, but I find it really helpful to have the Add-a-Quarter ruler. 
• Use the cheapest, flimsiest paper you can find for your paper templates. Really cheap printer paper works great. Some people like using vellum. Some like special paper like Carol Doak’s paper, which is more like newsprint. The flimsier the paper, the easier it will tear off when you are done. 
• I like to keep a piece of cardstock (like a postcard or a book mark) handy. When I’m folding my paper back on the line, I line up the cardstock with the line and fold against it. This makes it easier to get a good, clean fold. It also gives a little more of a ridge to nudge your Add-a-Quarter ruler against, if you are using one. 
• Lower your stitch length to 1.5 or so. That makes it easier to tear the paper off when done, and it provides stronger stitches when you are pulling against them to tear the paper off. 
• Make sure when you trim the block section after you’ve pieced it you leave the seam allowance on! Sometimes the cutting line is solid, and sometimes it is dashed. Just look at it and make sure there is seam allowance. 
• Some people find it helpful to use a little glue stick (fabric or just regular school glue stick) to glue the first piece onto the paper-piecing pattern instead of using a pin. Place a little glue on the wrong side of the fabric andstick it to the back side of the paper piecing pattern, behind the marking for Piece 1. Some people like to stick down each fabric as the open up each seam, just so they don't flop around. I don’t do that, but some people find it helpful.
• I like to hold the stitches down with my fingers as I tear the paper off, just to avoid pulling on the stitches too hard. 

So, here's the question:  Where do you stand with paper piecing?  Love it; hate it: somewhere in between: a little of both?  Leave a comment by Tuesday, May 5th and the Random Number Generator will pick a winner.  Commenters are eligible for the latest goody bag ;-)