Tip for paper piecing multiple blocks of the same design
 

Hello...well, as I have just jumped into a Judy Niemeyer paper pieced quilt top, I came up with a little tip that may be helpful to some folks on here. Background: I've done paper piecing before, but not ever a bunch of the same design blocks. I'm doing the "Briar Patch" quilt that you can see on the Quiltworx website.

So...I have to make 80 of the same paper pieced block (they are going to be about 6" finished). But, since I am pretty much going with the cover photo and using various fabrics demonstrating the color spectrum throughout the background of the quilt, it is a fairly daunting task. Also, I am not exactly sure how many of each color I really, really need, because I might need to move a few colors around. This being the case, I think it is best that I make a few blocks of each color first, and then fill in the gaps. So I don't want to cut all of the (approx. 25-27 different fabrics!) background pieces at once and end up mixing them up.

Which leads to the dilemma....if I am only making 2-4 of each color at a time, by the time I finish one set, and then cut fabric for the next set, I will have forgotten the best way to line up the pieces for each seam. So I came up with this!
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What I did was to leave one block with just the first two pieces in place (top of photo). Then make the next one up to 3 pieces (left side of photo), then the next has 4 pieces, then 5, and so on. I'll come back and finish them all up later, but in the meantime, they are a visual guide of how each step will look and how the fabric lines up. Nice to have a handy reference right in front of me as I go! Hopefully, this will keep me from having to stop and completely figure it out again every single day!

So....hope that is helpful to anyone. :) and if sounded like nonsense, sorry...I could try to clarify.

Great idea!!! thanks.

Nicely done tutorial and so clearly portrayed in visual steps. Clever method. Thanks; this method should be useful on any multi-step construction.

Great tip! Good thinkin'! Thanks for sharing!

If the background fabric in the block is going to show the different colors, you can plan it out by showing just the background color in blocks. That way you will know how many of each block you need.

Good idea - I'll have the file that away for when I do my JN piece.

Thanks for posting this. Every time I start a new paper piecing project I have totally forgotten how to do it. I'll use your idea and make a few partially-pieced blocks just to keep and remind me of the process. If I can remember how.

Well, I thought I knew how many of which one, until I discovered that some of my fabric strips were not big enough for a few colors, so I had to rearrange a little. I don't have a fancy program or anything to do it, but I have a pretty good rough idea what I will do, but want to see it in fabric and not just on a little chart. (haha...no fancy program...no fancy machine, either! That's my Mom's Kenmore in the photo...It's about 40+ years old. :) )

I know!! It's like I've got this short attention span and if I go away for a few hours, I have to get re-oriented. I am quite sure by the time I've done 79 blocks, I'll have it down pat. ;)

Excellent idea! I like visuals :-)

What a brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing. That's certainly going to save me some time.

Thanks for sharing this. I need visuals of what I'm doing and my attentions span is..."oh look" there's that new fabric I bought the other day! haha
Seriously, thanks.

Thanks, I have one of her wallhangings in the UFO category so I will finish it per your tutorial!!! Thank you!!!

Glad to be of some help. It is helping me keep a decent pace going while piecing, and I am actually having fun with this quilt, since I am not continuously stressing about fabric placement.

What a great idea. Thanks. I love PP and will certainly make use of this great tip.
peace

excellant! thanks for the great tip and photos.

Thanks for the idea

Makes perfect sense! Thanks for the tip.

That's a great idea! As I looked at the pictures I thought you could also take a picture of each step and print them out ( at a low resolution) just like on this post. Then you don't have to tie up a stack of blocks that are partway finished.

I thought about that....but thought it would be a waste of paper. I just flip through the unfinished blocks as I am piecing each set of 2-4 of each color. The other fabric pieces for the unfinished ones are pinned to them so they won't get lost. I might even get brave and cut/piece more than one color at a time, now that I have the routine down a bit better. :)

Thanks will definitely keep this in mind. Will be working on one the oldest GD today.

Thanks for the tip. I love paper piecing.

Thank you for the visualization - I have only done one small quilt label with PP and of course, I can't remember how to do it.

A great idea. I find that when I paper piece that first one is the most difficult, i.e. getting the angles right. Sometimes I make say five or six together. Seems like they go faster and there is more of a sense of accomplishment.

What a great idea. Thanks for the tip. I love paper piecing but I get confused all the time.

Thanks. BrendaK

That's a great tip! Thanks for sharing and taking the time to post the photo's .. very helpful!

Thank you for sharing your tip I have just cut 730 pieces for a pp and I am going to piece 40 blocks one after each other (hopefully) for part of the pattern. I am really hooked on this way of making a quilt top at the moment as my last one turned out great and I am waiting to get a floral backing for it to finish.

This sounds like a wonderful way to keep everything together and making the blocks smoothly. I like the idea of printing out the photos though and keeping them with the pattern for future reference.

It sounds like a great idea to me. I've got a couple paper piecing projects on the back burner and I will probably try out your method as I'm sure it will be a time saver. Thanks for the tip.

I'm just getting into paper piecing. Thanks for the tip...may make life a little easier for a while, I think! :)
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What great instructions! Thanks for sharing.

Another tip you could try is to use your mobile phone camera or a digital camera and photo each step as you go. This way you have a record which you can print off if you want a hard copy or just have your camera/phone handy as you sew so you can refer to it if and when you need to. A picture is worth a thousand words. It also means that you have less pieces of partly completed blocks lying around and cluttering up your work area.

I hope this helps.

Great idea! I do the same thing, forget how I am doing it and have to stop and rip out...

Brilliant idea! I am very much a "visual learner", so having an example of each step in front of me couldn't be more perfect to help me along! Thank you! And don't feel badly about not having the latest software. I also grew up without computers (gasp!) and while I now have one, it's not first on my list of places to go to with problems. My husband is always telling me I could do this or that faster if I just put it on the computer. To me, it's more work to learn the program and enter all the data. I was a nurse, not a secretary. And I like solving problems by figuring them out my way. It's fun, like a puzzle is fun! You go girl! We were sewing and quilting long before computers and quilter's software! Good luck on your quilt!