Question about using pages from telephone book for paper piecing.
 

What about the ink? I'm sitting here looking at my telephone book and there's lots of ink. Won't it get on the fabric? Especially the white fabric? I know it's on the back side but I'm thinking the whites/lights it might show through.

You will remove the paper before quilting the quilt so it should be fine. You can test it by placing a light colored piece of fabric in the phone book and closing it up for a couple days to make sure it does not bleed through.

Thanks! That's an excellent idea!

Just finished watching a tutorial class on using phone book pages for string quilts. The lady teaching the class said to use very old phone books so there is less chance of any ink getting onto your quilt. Don't use a brand new phone book.

What a good idea for all those phone books that pile up each Fall on my front porch. Sounds like we should keep them a wait a year to use them. Good plan.

How do ou get the pattern on the pages? I would think the pages would crinkle going through a printer and doesnt the print on the pages interfere with however you get the pattern on them. I like using Carol Doak paper. I know it costs more than using other paper but I just consider it part of the expense of making the quilt.

My 90 yr. old sister made one on readers digest pages. It was beautiful. A string quilt. You could also use blank newspaper "paper". Someone on here told of going to the news office and getting left-over pieces, I think.ha

Paper piecing requires the pattern to be on the paper. Foundation piecing doesn't need a pattern. You sew strips to the paper in any order you like. I use the thin deli paper from Sam's Club. It's the perfect size and easy to tear off. A box will last me a lifetime and much easier to store then a lot of phone books and I use them in the kitchen too. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/handy-w...00ct/196165.ip

ironing the pages will seal the ink....on newspaper too.
useless info >> back in the "Upstairs/Downstairs" days- the butler would iron the newspaper before giving it to the "lord of the house" so that the ink didn't rub of on the guy's fingers. Couldn't have THAT !!;)
i've used newspaper several times as foundation - always dry ironed first - and no ink rub off problems thus far.

I got newspaper print from staples and it is pretty cheap it comes in big pieces so you cut it the size of printer paper I use rotary cutter so it is easy. Goes thru printer fine and it works great for pp

I know this is an old thread, but I am hoping someone will share their thoughts. I want to do a spiderweb strip pieced quilt. I have looked at Bonnie Hunters method and she says to piece on a white square of fabric. Is there some special reason to use paper first? Just to avoid the weight of the backing fabric? I just shudder at the work of tearing all the paper off :)

I won't keep old phone books or newspapers. I use MSQC foundation papers to tear away or Ricky Tims Stable Stuff if I want to leave it in. Foundation piecing is much different then paper piecing.

When I did the spiderweb quilt I used the MSQC papers. I don't think I would want to use fabric instead of the paper because of the seams being very crowded.

I use wash away plastic. I can write on it too, then sew, then wash away, starch, Iron and trim.

Never heard of that Jane. Can you give us more information???? Where to buy, how does it wash away......as in dissolving....wash after its all quilted or each square. Thanks.

Our newspaper has end rolls that they sell -- have to get there before the teachers get them, though. because they are great for kid crafts too.

I would be worried if any of the ink would rub off onto the fabric.

When I first did string piecing, I used newspaper squares. Ink made my hands dirty but didn't affect the blocks. I started to use very thin fabric for the background since I found I did not like tearing the paper from the backs of all the squares. Did I mention that paper bits were all over. Mine work fine with the fabric backing.

I use fabric to foundation-piece my crazy quilts - I have used up all my old bedsheets (like my gran taught me) and when I ran out of those I started buying the cheapest, thinnest muslin I could find. It's inexpensive and works great, and like you say - no tearing a bunch of paper out afterwards. (and no ink all over my fingers) The extra fabric does add some weight to the quilt, so that might be a consideration, but I tend to prefer heavier quilts anyway so it doesn't bother me. And really thin muslin is pretty easy to find.

I've done it this way and it doesn't. Not like newspaper ink. I've gotten the pages wet and no ink/dye run.

It all depends on what I'm working on. Fabric foundation for crazy quilts, paper for scrap. I also have leftover tissue paper (white). I have all that stuff but my favorite is the no tear paper piecing from quiltingbee. the freezer paper technique. http://www.quiltnbee.biz/shop/Block-...5-x7562107.htm

The paper or muslin is used for stablizing your scraps. No need to use both. If you don't want the weight of muslin, try the paper. It seems like it would take forever, but actually if you do a couple at a time as you go along, its not too bad. Got any kids hanging around? You could enlist their help!

I use tissue paper for string quilts. No need to remove it because it dissolves when the quilt is washed.

Cari

BellaBoo, doesn't that have a wax coating on it?

I have never used the phone book for just the reason you mention, but know several who do and have never had problems. Bonnie Hunter of quiltville.com uses them all the time! At the school I work in we get a large pack of them every year; most of them end up in recycling. The ones here no longer have residential listings, only business. Most folks don't want them sitting around but would rather look info up on line. Some of them are now smaller than standard sized (8-1/2" x 11"), too.

I used to buy children's drawing pads from the dollar store, but they are too large to put through the printer, so had to be cut down. Now I buy reams of ruled newsprint from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/School-Smart-R...=1&*entries*=0), School Specialty (http://www.store.schoolspecialty.com...06&item=466169) or Staples (http://www.staples.com/Pacon-Ruled-N...product_730131). Sheets of 500 for under $10; it's the paper that primary school children use to learn to write. No problems running through printer; the blue and/or red lines are not distracting enough to interfere with pattern printing, or can be printed on back.

I am so glad AlienQuilter asked this question because I have often wondered the same thing.

I also purchased piecing paper from M* and I also saw piles of thin plain craft paper, etching pads etc at the dollar store.