I love the idea of pressing used dryer sheets to freezer paper and then printing on them. I'll have to try it. As for the flamability (sp?) I read that too but in further reading that myth was busted when another poster tested cotton vs dryer sheets in her kitchen. Seems both went up in flames the same, wish I could find that thread again.
I've also found the perfect time for me to pick those pesky paper pieces, its while riding shotgun in our RV over those scenic, wimdy, bumpy roads. The only thing I hadn't cured was the "fallout" so now I'll use the bathtowel idea, thanks!

ditto, the light weight vellum removes with ease and doesn't leave any tiny pieces in the stitches that have to be removed with tweezers.

you are supposed to use a metal nail file, hera marker, or seam ripper and run across the stitched line..to CREASE the paper first then it comes off like a dream..
also different papers do different things..I found that the JN fabric if your Iron them..they get stiff and tear off easier! after I crease it of course!

that might be so, but she used a Judy Neimeyer pattern and they come already printed on her paper!

also vellum is so costly that it would be a great expense on a large quilt!

all of the above! :lol:

It's not expensive if you buy from a bulk paper source. I bought it here when there was a sale and free shipping. http://www.paperplus.com/productdeta...p?bvn=10016356 There are many sources online to buy it, I just kept a watch for the best sale.
I don't have to buy it again. One ream will last me a lifetime. I use it a lot for tracings and making quilt motifs. I have enough to share with my quilt buddies too.

:D

About 20 years ago while taking complimentary classes for a new Pfaff I learned of a great stabilizer that removes very easily. Medical exam paper! The instructor passed around a sample piece and asked all of us if we could identify it, giving us a hint that most of us had "been in very close contact with it". No one could guess, but we were certainly amused. We paid something like $3 for a big roll and I'm still using that same roll. I have used it for small paper pieced blocks.

I use cheap paper and stitch the pattern out with a heavy duty (jeans) needle with no thread. I set my stitch length at about 2.1. When I stitch with fabric I stitch at 1.5 or 1.8. I still have to pick with tweazers but hardly anything. I also baste my edges or seam lines and leave my paper on till the quilt is totally stitched together. It is a little extra work but worth it to me.

I have a roll of the exam room paper I cut with my Go die cut machine and then foundation piece on it. Great way to use up all the tiny pieces of fabric scraps. Also the thin sandwich wrap deli papers sold at Sam's Club is great for foundation piecing.

I find kicking the table leg and gritting my teeth help also...

I use some very old office paper that we used to call onion skin. It is thin paper. I can't run it through the copier so have to hand copy the pattern on. But...it hasn't been too difficult to remove the paper. I don't even know if it is still available for purchase. I got it when our office had to move to smaller space and got rid of a lot of old stuff. I was 'happy' to help them out by taking the onion skin and a few other things that work beautifully for crafts.

Watched a Fons and Porter on tv the other day they folded and ran their fingernail along the seam line held one side and it came off real easy. Now I havent tried this only watched them do it, seems sometimes when you watch them do it and me doing it is a whole new story

I make all sorts of things that aren't meant to be handled or handled very much (think potholders, mug rugs, and wall hangings), as well as things like baby quilts that get more use. In every case, I PP onto the lightest non-woven stabilizer/interfacing I can find and then I just... leave it.

I like the stability (duh) that it gives the finished pieces and I especially like not having to deal with taking out the paper. I tried piecing onto paper and taking it out... and swore never to do so again.

If you use the super-thin interfacing/stabilizer, you can hardly tell it's there.

Works for me! :)

I was surprised to find school notebooh paper easiest to tear off!
It is also cheap! ....and has straight lines on it!

Run the point of a pin over the stitches, that helps a lot!

A friend of mine says construction paper comes off easy.

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE PAPER THAT TURNS TO FABRIC ? NEVER HEARD OF IT.

It feels like paper but really isn't. What I have is called Poly Stable Stuff. description:

It comes by the yard or prepackaged in fifty 8.5" x 11" sheets ready to go for use in a copy machine, ink jet printer or laser printer. You can leave it on the underside of your work. If you wet or wash your finished project, Stable Stuff® Poly becomes a fine, soft layer of unnoticeable polyester fibers inside your project.

When you sew your first seam across the paper fold the paper back on itself and finger press. That creases the seam and puts a little stress on the paper holes. Then straighten it out and sew your second fabric. Then do the same thing - turn back on itself and finger press. When you finish all the seams will have already been stressed and will tear easier.

I never had a problem with it..maybe because I didn't consider it a chore..just part of the process.

When taking paper off, I generally sit at a table with a plastic bag next to the piece. I crease the paper against the seam and pick any small pieces up with a pair of medical tweezers or a small hemostat (my neighbor was an MD and had old suture sets that were too worn out for his office use.) When I'm done I take the top outdoors and shake it out to get all the tiny bits free (and off the floor indoors :lol: )

Just take your time, going and a moderate pace saves me a lot of "double back" time here.
But that's what works for me.

You can always photocopy the preprinted sheets onto vellum or your paper of choice. This is what I did with a Cindi Edgerton pattern that came preprinted on tissue paper. I don't know where you purchase your vellum, but when I buy it, it's about the same cost as copy paper.

I've actually moved away from vellum, however, and now use the fold-and-sew method, which means I don't have to tear ANY paper away when I am done.

I'd use a really lightweight fabric backing next time- you can send it through your printer with a freezer paper backing. Then you would not have to take it off.

When doing paper piecing (foundation piecing) I use pattern ease instead of paper. It works so well and you leave it on. It is very light and makes the blocks look sharp. It is also very washable.

I use the Doodle, or Scribble Pads from the Dollar Stores. It looks like newsprint. It can be run through the printer and tears off real easily.

Thank you so much, all of you for your ideas. I will try some of them. I knew it should be easier, if I just knew the secret.

I think at one time, someone on the board suggested using the paper out of old phone books, super cheap (free) and easy to tear off.

Take small stitches, making the paper closely perforated. Really helps.
oops!!! I think I misunderstood the question - Never Mind LOL

All of the comments already made, plus after removing most of the paper I run a lint roller over the piece. It doesn't always remove the tiny bits but it further loosens them.

Also save that tedious task for in front of a mindless move some night.

Very short stitch length...and a purple thang!

I have been using Carol Dokak's foundation paper, it comes in a tabet and is much like thin news paper,it comes off fairly easy, I didn't want to remove the paper at first.

d.swindle

Small stitches and I use Carol Doak's Foundation Paper and have never had a problem removing it even in small areas.

I never have a problem with paper I think because I bite the bullet and use paper made for paper piecing. I hold the piece at the top corner and the opposite bottom corner the pull down and up and that makes the initial "pop". No problem wi the rest of the job.

Thin paper from a telephone book is easy to remove. If it doesn't tear easy enough for you, just spritz it with water and it practically melts. It helps with any paper to fold along the stitching and then tear right up against the stitching. Lots less little wisps to use tweezers on.

ROFL!! But how do you say bad words while doing so?

I've found running a pin along the stitches helps. Definitly use tweezers to grasp the bits.

I dip a Q-tip in water and rub it along the seam line. By the time you get one block done, it pulls off pretty easily.

Try stamp tongs. They're long and thin and work great. :)

I found it easiest to get hubby to do it.

hehehehehehehe that's cheating!!!!! hehehehe :D :D :D :D but a GREAT idea!!!!

I will try this ... Thanks! :thumbup: