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." ;)