Originally Posted by
DogHouseMom
I'm missing something here. Why is fabric (muslin or otherwise) used instead of paper that can be torn away? Do you print the pattern on the fabric like you would with paper? If so, how? Do you cut the fabric away after piecing?
I'm confused.
It's o.k. there's may ways to skin a cat. I use paper foundations that I tear away for charity, string quilts. It's basically free for me as I use old copy paper. But, it takes a lot of time and effort to remove all that paper. Hours, really. So, if you want to skip that step you can use whatever fabric you'd like as a foundation. It's then buried in the quilt and you don't remove it. You save a lot of time that way.
You can actually transfer designs to fabric similar to paper (paper piecing). There are transfer pens and patterns on the market for this. I prefer paper piecing for smaller projects. But, for twin size and larger you are talking a large amount of time to get all that paper off. So, this method is the choice for many people.