What do you think of Paper Piecing?
 

I am so new to quilting and my friend talked me into doing a quilt (Goldies Fish). It is the cutest thing. I had no idea what I was getting into. It was a class for 3 hrs for 3 Saturdays. Well let me tell you it took 3 hours to just cut the background material. It was a costly class $30 for the pattern, $54 for the class and if you did not have a stripology ruler well that was another $70 plus material and I only have 1 fish square done. Does this get easier as you go? I like the look the paper piecing gives. I would like for people to continue this thread and show what they have done with paper piecing.

Pre cutting fabric for paper piecing is silly. Grab a piece and random cut it to fit, being sure it is bigger then the shape and sew it. I took a very expensive Judy Niemeyer class, cutting the fabric beforehand was a waste of time for me. I did the pattern like regular paper piecing and was done in half the time. Of course I did this at home, not at the class. I followed the teacher's instructions and realized it was a long drawn out process of paper piecing, I guess to make it different and worth the price. ? Simple paper piecing is all you need to learn. I learned from best, Carol Doak. Buy her DVD for less then $10 and love paper piecing!

When I first tried paper piecing, I hated it and thought it was horrible.
Second try, I thought pretty much the same. Detested it and swore. Never!

Then ... there was something I wanted to do and it required paper piecing.
I went at it because I wanted the results and and by the time I was finished it, I had developed my own style and flow of how to do it and was in love with the technique. Bits and pieces of how to's grabbed from here and there. My basic training came from here
http://www.quilterscache.com/StartQu...tingthree.html
I made four of these blocks, stitched them together and then started at my major project.

Like OneByOne, I have become a "grab and go" PP'er.
It might be using scraps that I have, or right out of a piece of yardage!
In the end, I don't think I waste any more fabric in doing it this way, than those who pre-cut.
In all honesty, I often think that I use less than if pre-cutting, but have no "official" assessment of that.

What works for one, does not necessarily work for the other.
So keep at it, and develop your own style.
You already have said you like the results ... perfect points and precision piecing!

You asked what we have done .... here's some of mine for inspiration.
This was my first PPing effort, beyond that four block self-training that I mentioned above.
https://www.quiltingboard.com/pictur...t-t226726.html

https://www.quiltingboard.com/pictur...r-t226710.html

https://www.quiltingboard.com/pictur...s-t259838.html

I like paper piecing, and my avatar is one of my examples. I got a hand out for paper piecing when I got some Dear Jane help and it was the one that "made sense" to me. I seem to waste less fabric using this method. Like QuiltE and One by One I don't pre-cut.

I'm really getting into paper piecing. Started out with Carol Doak's 50 stars. Have them all done, can't decide what to do with them now.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pszvmaqahh.jpg

Started making roses, got about 50 of them done and plan to do more (some year . . .). they are 6.5" square

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psdj9bun0n.jpg

Played around with a BOM - only did a few, saved the pattern for all 12 some maybe some day I'll get back to them.
Pattern is 12", and I played with doing a 6" one too.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pstnhvtmny.jpg

then two Fire Island Hosta quilts, because I could not decide which colors I liked best. I did not sew on the papers for those though. They in line to be quilted now.

Right now I'm working on Catch Me If You Can - I did precut all my peices, but I'm not as generous as the pattern calls for. I rarely use a "add a quarter" ruler any more, and do more trimming with scissors than a rotary cutter.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pssz4jvglk.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psxzkrfcn8.jpg

It does get easier and faster, once you get confident enough to skip a lot of steps that really are needed when you are starting out.

Love it . I'm currently working on a storm at sea. For paper-piecing paper check your local Dollar General for Crayola Doodle Pads. 60 sheets of what is essentially newsprint for $2.00. Works great.

Love it! Especially since I started doing the freezer paper method. Check out you tube. For me it is easier that piecing. Start with a simple pattern of only three or four pieces per block and practice.

What is name of flower pattern? I cant wait to make some!

here is the Rose pattern - but be careful, this seller has a lot of neat patterns!

https://www.etsystudio.com/listing/6...ock-rose-quilt

I googled Paper Pieced Rose - and, wow! found a bunch of designs I'd love to try!

Has anyone here done any of the "picture piecing"? I bought the book by Cynthia England but have never started one.

I wouldn't enjoy a class that made you buy expensive rulers, patterns, etc. I want to know the basic techniques and do my own thing.
I have only purchased 1 pattern and was glad I did. This rooster is an Ann Shaw pattern and she does a good job explaining.
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I started with a Judy Niemeyer leaf and enjoyed it. didn't mind the cutting. then took a Carol Doak class and that book required cutting ahead of time but I did that at home. I enjoyed that too. I would do both of them again. But, I have no deadlines and I quilt for my own pleasure. both of them are ready for quilting, which I will get to.

I tried it recently and liked it but......I'm not a very patient person. Paper piecing is a bit slow and I like to zoom. I found a good compromise for me was to put some paper pieced elements into a simple quilt like the one below.

I've also had success making just one copy of a paper pieced block and turning it into a yard flag or a hanging for the front door.

I'm just not patient enough to make 20-30 blocks!

I printed patterns onto some onionskin paper I had in the house.

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I never precut the pieces for paper piecing. Like others, I think it's a waste of time. I rather like paper piecing and will hopefully start another paper pieced project in the next few months.

My 1st paper piecing project was Jinny Beyer's Crystal Star. Fell in love with paper piecing after that. Have only made 1 other paper piecing project but love it just the same.

My pp'ing
 

Love it. For Change of pace. Some of my favorites

What a timely topic! I just bought Peggy Martin's class on Craftsy and am ready to get started.
I have all of Carol Doak's books but I just couldn't get the hang of it. I even took a class with her.Carol is an excellent teacher. It was me. I just couldn't wrap my brain around it! But now things are starting to click. So glad I kept Carol's books. And this other teacher is great so far!
What is so nice about PP is the precision you can get. I've always wanted to do a New York Beauty (my home state) which is hard to do any other way that I know of.

I love paper piecing, unfortunately I haven't figured out how to post pics.

I have only made one table runner that was Paper Pieced. It was not so bad.

I started PP'ing a month ago and I started with a simple pattern. I learned the technique from YouTube,which has tons of videos on the subject. At first, I was wasting fabric but I was only making a few blocks for a pieced quilt so I wasn't concerned. Now, I know what I'm doing and just grab pieces from my scrap bag. I never got in the habit of pre-cutting but I would likely not do that anyway now that I know how to do it efficiently. So, I've made just blocks so far. I have a whole PP quilt project I'll be doing this year so we'll see how it goes. I use cheap copy paper for my foundation paper. And, there are a lot of PP patterns free on the net so that helps.

i've done a couple of projects with it. The ones where I was given directions of what size fabric needed for each part I liked much better--I had less waste too. I took a Judy Niemeyer class (not with her, but with certified instructor) this past summer--got one block done! But do plan to finish that up.

Paper piecing is how I first got into quilting generally because it was cheap. All you need is fabric, scissors, needle/thread and thin card as well as your pattern and there are lots of free ones online. I did a whole quilt like this - not a very good one in hindsight but nonetheless. I will try and find some pics when I get chance.

Any other equipment is optional and down to your preferred style. I never pre cut neatly ( roughly round with a pair of scissors)

Hobbykat - I love your house! Was this a pattern or a kit?

Love it! This one is paper pieced, from EQ7, the Kaleidoscope collection.

My first Paper Piecing experience I Hated it! I found it frustrating- horribly wasteful, and difficult. Swore to never do it again— fast forward about 5 years and I came across another project. Decided to give it a second chance. Fell in love with the process and since then do a lot of Paper Piecing.
heres one of my recent projects. Stars from Carol Doak’s 50 Stars book

All of the above projects are just beautiful. I especially like ckcowl's stars. Just sparkles. I like the process very much but am quite slow at it. Hope to do more in the future.

I also like pp'ing for the precision that you get with your finished blocks/project. Initially I had a horrible time 'getting' it so ended up taking a class at my LQS. Nowhere near as costly as yours! Pattern and fabrics only. The class was for a single NY Beauty block. I then managed to pretty much zip through the balance of that project at home - I didn't want to take the chance I would forget what I learned, lol! I think finishing the entire project soon after the class really helped to reinforce the process for me.

I've since done any number of pp'd projects. I do tend to pre-cut pieces but not very precisely. Just enough to have a reasonably oversized piece of fabric to work with for that spot. I do think the process can be a bit wasteful but the precision makes up for that for me.

A friend took an online class on paper piecing and came over to show me how. I quickly figured out that pre-cutting was a waste of my time. Now she doesn't pre-cut either. That said, my attention span is too short and I'm too old to paper piece an entire quilt, especially since I have to re-learn the process each and every time. I limit my paper piecing to corner blocks on other quilts, like the cactus bloom in the corners of the pink braid below.
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That's a great idea. Good looking quilt.

It does get easier. I just watched it on the web and learned it at home. I love how accurate it makes the block and you can use up a lot of scrapes and you can have some pretty small pieces in your pattern. I wish I knew how to post a picture because I have done blocks with over hundred pieces in them. The most important thing is always follow your numbers in the order given and follow the directions on sewing your sections together and you will do great. It is so much fun. There is a lot of free patters for paper piecing on the web. So find some easy ones and just practice using scape fabric.

I love PP ... I did the bali star wedding quilt. I did pre-cut for that, but it was easy ... long strips and then rectangles. Made it easier for me to just zoom through the process. Also, it was a complicated pattern, and I needed to be really organized

I don't usually pre-cut - too much work!

Don't know when exactly I started doing PPing but I love it!! When I have found (have sworn not to do anymore, filing cabinet is full of patterns) a traditional block I like I have made a master & copied onto thin paper (from DickBlick.com- really cheap). I recently tried to do a block in a swap by cutting pieces & found points just didn't come out right. PP is sooo exact....

Thank you for the link! Cute patterns!

I love paper piecing. The results are usually fantastic as you can see by the beautiful quilts shown. Here are some of mine: [ATTACH=CONFIG]587989[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]587990[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]587991[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]587992[/ATTACH]

The OP stated this is her intro to quilting? Well, if pp were mine, I would have stopped right there! I am not a fan of pp, seems I have to think backwards. I do agree about its precision, and if and when I want something intricate that would be my method of choice...but for me, if I can piece correctly, that's my first choice......

i also agree about the initial costs of that class she attended..quite pricey for a "beginner"....

I love PP, have done it a lot over the years. It does get easier. I am not home so can't post pics, when I get home I'll post some. I pre cut sometimes, if I am doing the same pattern many times, or if I have a set amount of a specific fabric (like for the Boom swaps). Or partially precut, like precut a strip width then sew from that specific set of triangles.

I agree with Geri B. PP (not English PP which is done by hand but foundation PP) seems a bit complicated and fussy for one's first exposure to quilting. $30 for a pattern seems very expensive as well, unless all the pre printed papers were included. And I'm not one for specialty rulers but if the class was geared to using it, the rest of the participants would be held up while the instructor tried to show someone how to achieve the same effect with a regular ruler.

all that said, I do love PP. I do precut shapes but not the way Judy N. teaches. The biggest downfall to most beginner PP is not having the fabric piece big enough for a specific shape, especially when it is an odd angle. I rough cut my angles from strips and have had amazing success doing it that way. Although I do have some waste I have fine tuned it to be minimal.

Here are examples of PP quilts I have made:
This is Agave Garden, a Judy Niemeyer pattern
[ATTACH=CONFIG]587993[/ATTACH]

This is Saw Tooth Cats by City Stitcher
[ATTACH=CONFIG]587994[/ATTACH]

And this is a Mariners Compass I designed myself using instructions from Judy Mathieson on how to draft MC blocks and do a different technique of PP using freezer paper and not stitching through the paper.
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Welcome to our board!

Paper Piecing is like regular piecing. Imagine putting a piece of paper over your pieces before sewing the seam. That's all it is. Sew the seam, turn it over, cut 1/4" away from the seam, open it up and press. Repeat. I like the new Add a Quarter ruler with tapered edge, no folding card needed. I usually start with a stack of scraps or if fabric is planned, with a stack of squares and rectangles. I paper piece the simple pieces like flying geese, nine patch, and pinwheel. Faster for me as every block is perfect. No redos. I use vellum paper. For small intricate patterns I use Stable Stuff that stays in the quilt.

Paper piecing is wonderful for some quilt designs. I took a class very early on that was a paper piecing for beginners class, to make a Christmas wall hanging. It gave me a lot of confidence. I still haven't finished a more complicated kaleidoscope quilt from my second paper piecing class, but have done a number of other projects. I would recommend a first class that is supportive of your status as a beginner, so you aren't overwhelmed.

First off, welcome to the quilt board! You've gotten a lot of great advice so far but I thought I toss in my own 2 cents. I've been in a PP club for several years and I like it, but like any part of quilting there are a lot of variables and (at least for myself) it might depend on your thought process. It can also depend on your skill level, the type of project and level of difficulty of the project.

Pre-cutting: There are some patterns it may not matter if you pre-cut fabric, but for myself, I'm working on a JN pattern and can't imagine trying to cut pieces as I go because of color placement. My other thought is if you are learning, learn how it should be done correctly first, then later on once you understand the process you can change it to suit you.

The class: IMHO, if the class instructor doesn't give you a list of required tools, you shouldn't need to worry about buying one when you get to class. Even then I would check to see if it really needed or if I has something similar. Consider if the tool will make a difference? Maybe you can cut strips a little quicker with the stripology ruler, but I cut strips with out them...I wouldn't have bought it myself. Again IMHO, if the instructor doesn't request fabric to be cut before the class, it should be a part of the class. The instructors should scheduled it so that a certain amount of the project can be completed in each class. If you've done all three classes and only finished one block it sounds like it wasn't planned very well, and I might even talk to the instructor or shop owner about your experience and satisfaction.

The costs: Paper piecing is more expensive than regular piecing. The patterns require more detailed work and may have the papers included. Your $30 pattern isn't bad if it came with the papers. You will need more fabric because it usually needs to be over-cut. The cost of the class doesn't seem to be out of line as long as you are getting the help and instructions you need to succeed.

It should get easier as you go and there is a lot of satisfaction getting those perfect points. In quilting you need to enjoy the process...the rest of it is just details.