I'm a relative newbie with Paper Piecing .... and have come to the point of some questions

??Sewing Machine Needles??
... do you switch to a different size and/or type the PPing?
or go with what you would normally use for the same fabric without paper?

??Rotary Blades??
... go dull quickly when cutting thru the paper when trimming seam and edges. Any tips and hints?

I'm quickly coming to the decision that I should keep one rotary for PPing and one for regular fabric sans paper.

??Others??
... While we're here, please feel free to add other tips and tricks you have discovered that help you achieve more success at PPing!

Thanks everyone ... and looking forward to all the great ideas that I'm sure will come! :)

what I have learned, if your doing several of the same pattern, to do space one on all of the papers and remember to leave the 1/4 inch on all sides then add peice 2 to all then stop and sew. like an asembly line seemed to work well for me. i always just used my sissors until i got to the end and then trimmed the sides. everyone has a different way.
good luck

In the class I took, we used a 90 needle and a shorter stitch length to make the paper pull out easier. The shorter stitch length pierces the paper and literally cuts it as you sew. Have a lot less problems when it comes to paper removal.

I don't do very much PP, but I do have a rotary cutter just for that purpose. One of my mother's strict rules was to not use the "good" scissors for cutting paper, and I still do that, even when cutting out coupons, magazine articles, etc. I keep scissors in several rooms of the house just for paper.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/virtual...jsp?vsnum=1005

Check out the section for paper piecing for a wide variety of help and pictures. You can subscribe to this section also.

thanks for the link, moonwork. i keep forgetting that we have that resource

Good thread. Great info! I'll be watching. Thanks! :)

Im a Carol Doak follower and one thing I heard from her years ago and now know it to be true is that paper does not ruin blades. The paper may leave residue and can be wiped off occasionally, but does not dull blades. I use my Gingher rotary blade and have yet to change it out after over a year of fabric and paper cutting. The reason I always kept my good scissors away from the family was because they wanted them to cut things other than paper i.e. Wire, wood, rocks, etc.

I recently took a class that involved pp'ing. I must be a slow learner because so many people had blocks done, plural, and I didn't have one complete block done. One more UFO

Get yourself a 1/4 edge ruler...Never had a problemm with blades dulling on paper...use 1.5 stitch length and I use reg copy paper...