Joining paper pieced blocks
 

I'm new at quilting. Paper piecing does not seem to be a problem for me but I can't seem to join the blocks together properly. Any suggestions.

Are you leaving the paper on the back until you join the blocks together?

I pin them before I sew them - I pin in several spots. I found that if I only pin on the sides I seem to miss the points in the middle so now I match up the pieces in a few spots and pin then sew. The little extra time I spend doing that pays off in the end for me. :)

It takes a little practice and a little extra time for extra pinning, but in time it will get easier.

I used to have a hard time matching up the blocks but I am OK now for the following reasons - I match all the seams with a pin sticking it straight thru and do the same with the corners( do not bend the pin and pushback thru the fabric like normal just leave them sticking straight thru until you pin horozontally then you can remove them) and then I pin horizontally thru the line on the paper making sure it matching the line on the other piece - sorta like what you do when hand piecing. If there are a lot of matching seams I baste first all those seams and make sure they match. Then I sew the block together slowly pulling the pens out - you do not need a lot of pens. It is a lot more work but it beats trying to tear out all those little stitches.

glue stick helps too:)

When I pin the blocks together, I pin the points by putting the pin directly on the seams already sewn, not the length of the seam to be sewn. Make sure when sewing blocks together that the seams are pressed in opposite directions of each other. Butt up the seams, pushing them a little tight against each other. Then starting about an 1/8th of an inch from the edge push the pin straight through, not at an angle. Then bring the pin up from the back on the sewn seam and bring straight through to the seam on the top block. All my seams are pinned this way, then in between those seams, I pin going the length of the seam to be sewn. When I take the pins out as the needle gets near the points, I grab my stiletto awl and hold down the fabric as I guide it over the points. However--before I do any final sewing, I lengthen the stitch and 'baste' over the points to make sure they match. It might seem like extra work, but I am not a perfect pro but I want my points matching too so I have learned the hard way to do all these steps every time. I prefer not to rip anything out with those tiny stitches unless I have to.

Thanks all for your instructions. I will keep practicing.

I match the seams with a pin sticking it straight thru at the corners. Then I use plastic coated paper clips to hold it together.

I'm taking a pp class and thought that you tore the paper off after you made the block. Are you saying you don't? Are you saying you keep in on while you stitch the blocks together also?

You keep in on while you stitch the blocks together.

It seems most PPers like to keep the paper on till the seams are sewn together. I on the other hand I like to remove the paper before I sew the seams together. IMHO the bulk of all that paper and fabric is very thick and the feed dogs don't grab the paper as you sew and slipping occurs. There is also no paper in the seams to remove making the job easier.

Seams just fit toghther better. If there is some bias involved which there usualy is, I use a bit of starch and press after removing the paper. Hope this helps a little.

peace

And allways if you are going to be sewing bias seams together.

I find it easier to remove the seam allowance (paper) on the bottom piece after matching, not so thick and teeth pull better.

Carol Doak site has free PP patterns you can practice with. I did a large PP quilt that meant I had to cut apart the pattern in several places. then later put them back together. i used colored pencils to mark lines across the sections so when i joined them again, i could match them better. just a thought.

NanaCsew2 explained it very well - that is what I do. It works well.

I do lots of pinning like the others mentioned. Also, be sure to use VERY fine pins. They are expensive in my opinion (I am quite frugal) but I find nice fine pins are a necessity for getting precision in my patchwork.