When you are pp do you sew the pieces of the blocks together with the paper still on.. Or do you pull it off then sew the pieces together. I generally take the paper off but I notice I have to square up my blocks when they are done. I do that because it seems harder to get the paper off after the pieces are all sewed together. I just wondered how others do it.

Keep the paper on until you are totally done with the block. I learned this the hard way :D

When I pp, I leave the paper on and sew with small stitches... almost to 0 on my machine. That way when I hold the paper to tear it off, it rips off easily. I was just pp this afternoon and trying to remind myself that next time I sit down to do this I need to grab a pair of tweezers which will help me get a hold of tiny pieces that are sometimes hard to start ripping. Occasionally, if I am having trouble getting paper off, I will spray it lightly with water and let it sit for a bit, then it tears off even easier.

Hope this helps you. :-D

PS: I should add that the flower I was doing today had 3 sections to it. I pp each section, trimmed the outside cutting edge and then even left the paper on when I sewed the sections together. After that is when I tore all of the paper off the sections. Since I sew with very small stitches, I have also begun to stitch back a stitch once I have sewn two stitches at the beginning of a seam. I end my stitching with a back stitch or two. This eliminates the stitches coming loose when I am tearing paper off. :-D

use a very light interfacing as the foundation --then leave it in

I leave the papers on until I have completed the quilt top, then I sit down with a good movie and have myself a paper removing party! Yippee :) I do love to paper piece so I have done this numerous times.

I get so aggravated doing pp. I think I have the fabric the right size, sew it, flip it and there isn't enough fabric to cover the section. Trying to rip out those tiny little stitches is terrible. Thought I liked pp, now I'm not so sure.

I cut extra large fabric pieces...just so I don't have to rip...but sometimes I'll baste stitch first to make sure and then sew right over that if OK...never pull off paper until totally put together and use 1.5 length to make it easy to pull off photo copy paper I use.

I leave it on until it is a flimsie (unquilted top). Then, you can lay a damp towel on it and the paper will come right off!

I crease all the sewing lines first to help make sure I have the right size fabric and it helps remove the paper later. I leave all the papers on until I start joining the blocks to make rows unless there is going to be too much in the seam allowances to sew over. If that happens, I try to just remove the paper in the seam allowance. Cheap tablet or newsprint type paper works best for me. I had some old fashioned type writer paper when I first started and that stuff was perfect but I can't find it any more.

Use tracing paper to print on. You can hold it up to the light and see if what you have cut is going to cover the area.

I think it is now referred to a "copy paper". (Do people still own a typewriter?)

I sew the whole top together and then pull off the paper.

To see if a piece of fabric will cover the spot where is it supposed to go, fold back the paper on the stitching line and then hold the piece of fabric to the edge of the seam allowance and see if it covers. That way you don't get any bad surprises when folding the fabric into place after stitching.

Copy paper is thicker than the old typewriter paper was. People used to put 2 sheets of typewriter paper in at a time or at least that's how we were taught to do it in business class a few decades ago. I think it was probably thinner because we also used carbon paper to "cc" people or make a file copy so you could load 3 pages plus 2 carbons easily without jamming up the typewriter.

And yes, there are still typewriters in use at many government offices. It's hard to get the workers to turn loose of equipment that they've been using for 40 years even if all they use it for now is to print file folder labels.

Or use this method and never have to rip paper!
http://www.twiddletails.com/store/in...age=page&id=21

You're right about the typing paper. Most copy paper is 20 lb. I am going to check my office supply store tomorrow and see if they have something lighter.

BTW, I still have 2 electric typewriters that my kids used in college way back when there were not computers available. Anybody want them??

I leave the paper in to keep the blocks stabilized. Usually there is a lot of bias in the blocks and edges :D:D:D

I was taught to leave the paper on until the blocks are sewn together.

I keep the paper on till the top is finished, too. I also have started doing a backstitch or two, especially if the seam is very short, then it doesn't pull out when I do take the paper out.

Yes, I think the backup stitches at the beginning of each seam and the end makes a difference for when it is time to pull the paper off. Too many times I have had the seam start to come undone when I pulled paper off. Tiny stitches and the backup stitches have made a real difference in my paper piecing. I love pp so much.

PS: love your baby in your avatar... so sweet :-D

Thank you! That's my grand daughter with a quilt I made for her to use here at Nammy's house!