Ok...I want to jump in the deep end!

Can anyone recommend a good pattern to start with for my first try at paper piecing?
Eventually I want to do a New York Beauty but thought that might be a little ambitious for my first try...

Awww there is your "Rudolph"
There are several paper piecing tutorials here on the board in the Tutorial section. That may be a good place to start :wink:

Quilterscache.com and Paperpanache.com
both have easy patterns and tutorials to get you started.

Amma, you must have read my PDA! LOL

Thanks for the suggestions ladies, I will check them out :)

I wondered the same thing. Glad you posted, because now we have helpful links to check out.

Carol Doak has a bunch of free patterns on her site:
http://www.caroldoak.com/free-quilt-patterns.php

I'm making a quilt out of the flower she shows next to the Easy Reversible Vests book almost to the bottom of that page. It's a VERY easy pattern. :)

She also has a yahoo group where people are very helpful and friendly, in case you get stuck. groups.yahooDOTcom/group/CarolDoakQuiltingGroup/

At least a couple of her paper-piecing books (maybe all of them) have a CD with printable foundations included. The good thing about a book would be getting the basic instructions - she has some great tips for speeding up the process. :)

This is the quilt I'm making - the blocks are about 80% done.

After looking at your link to the Carol Doak Pattern page, i now truly understand why a person would need paper piecing.

My first pp pattern was a Hunter's Star.

I've been having a ball checking out everyone's links.
What do you all think of this pattern called Star Weaving for a beginner's paper piecing project? I loved how the blocks turn out to look even more complex once they are all joined together. http://www.quilterscache.com/S/StarWeavingBlock.html
That Marcia is a Quilting Star herself!

The Star Weaving pattern is really pretty, but I think it would be more complicated to do with paper foundations than just plain ol' HST's. (I am the queen of HST Haters of America, so for me to say that might mean something! LOL!)

I love the Triangulations CD for HST's - pin, sew on the dotted lines, press, cut on the solid lines, press open, remove the paper - perfect HST's.

And I don't even have to bring out the "quilting words." ;)

All the previous suggestions are helpful for a newbie PP. I have just practiced PP, made two birds and am working (slowly) on a flower. The one area I have had trouble being I am so frugal with my fabric is cutting my pieces too small. Don't err on the side of too small if anything go bigger than you think you need. I had two places on my birds that were too small so made them unusable.

I second using Carol Doak's PP patterns. Easy to follow instructions..I used these to learn myself. And quilterscache.com has a ton of patterns for when you're confident in the technique.

Have fun :)

Christine

The best thing about Carol Doak's paper piecing is that she tells you how big to cut your pieces of fabric. I usually cut mine even a little bigger than she suggests. I was trying to be frugal once and used fabric that was too small. I ended up throwing the project away because I got so frustrated. Now I make sure I have plenty or use Carol's patterns.

Oh No! Not "the quilting words"! :shock: So funny!

I actually tried a PP pattern now and it is So EASY! Marcia Hohn's Golden Wedding Ring. http://www.quilterscache.com/G/Golde...RingBlock.html

Now that I understand more about how it works, you are right, Star Weaver isn't the best for PP.

Here is another great website with links for free Paper Piecing patterns:
http://www.craftytips.com/quilting/f...cing-patterns/

Ok so what kind of paper do you all use for your templates and do you run them through the printer?

I use Carol Doaks' foundation paper when I can buy it at 40% off at Connecting Threads. Otherwise, I buy newsprint and cut it down with a guillotine paper cutter.

Plain inkjet paper works just as well, but it's a little harder to remove if you don't get the stitches close enough and it's a lot more expensive than newsprint. :)

I personally use cardstock. Most LQS have cut outs of the shapes you need to finish a quilt. Also check out etsy if you don't have the time to make them yourself. I always purchase precut ones just because it would take me forever to sit there and cut them out myself.

Thanks that is great info - what I have been playing with is just not tearing away very well - Ill order some of the Carol Doak's paper and give it a shot...

Cardstock is fabulous for English paper piecing, which is a whole 'nother animal than foundation paper piecing. :)

If you try to do foundation paper piecing with cardstock, you are probably gonna have to bring out the "quilting words." ;)

I've tried copy paper, newsprint (unprinted, of course), vellum, and paper piecing paper. I like vellum and the paper piecing paper best. They both tear the easiest of all types of paper. The vellum is see-through, which is helpful with certain patterns or techniques.

However, another way around the tearing part is simply to NOT tear - fold the paper out of the way and stitch. This has become my preferred method of ALL methods of paper piecing.

I really recommend the Carol Doak's page her patterns look so wonderful and yet so easy to do following her and I like her tip of starting and finishing the stitching 1/4" beyond the lines, I use value copy paper 80gram and top tip reduce your stitch length to about half the your normal one as that makes the tearing out the paper easier.

I love Carol Doaks designs.

I'm going to have to try PP> Thanks for sharing all this info.

I love the quilt in your avatar, gorgeous.

I just used the thinnest copie paper I could find in the house and ran it through my printer, printing directly from Marcia Kohn's website. Then I used smaller stitches and the paper pulled out easily.

Okay... too early in the morning for me to be typing one handed with my dog in my lap. The website's edit feature isn't working either, I meant to say: "copier paper" and "Marcia Hohn's"

Carol Doak is the way to go. I also use her paper to do it. Took a class with her to learn how and she is a lovely person. I have several of her books.

I am going to run by a store today that may have it on the shelf - I will see cant wait to try something that isn't distorting the stitches!

ok I made this but the foundation stuff I had wasn't paper it was this foundation stuff almost like interfacing - I also tried freezer paper and it didn't tear away very well - plus I did the paper piecing wrong thank goodness for the internet I found a tutorial online with a video I just had to search paper piecing :oops: