klbell1022

If you use water soluble thread for your BASTING there is no need to remove stitches. It will disappear when you wash the quilt.

thimblebug6000

When you are whip stitching the two pieces together you will just be catching a thread or two from each piece. You will not be catching the paper into your whip stitches. It is not a fast process, but in that "selfsewn" tutorial you can see how she has her two pieces laying face to face on top of each other.... and then using just the point of your needle catch the threads from the very edges then bring your needle back to where you first entered but move over only a couple threads. Don't give up.... keep trying and you will find this a very fun project once it " clicks" . I wonder if there would be a shop near you where you could pop into for a "face on" demonstration, sometimes we need that to help.

madamekelly

You could also try a couple different ideas to make this work for you. Instead of cutting the fabric just 1/4" bigger than your paper, try cutting it 1/2" bigger. That is how I do it. More to hang onto. Also, you can 'baste' with a glue stick. When glue stick dries, it is crispy, so it will let go pretty easy. You can also get on YouTube to see how others whip stitch the pieces together. I have even used a small paintbrush, liquid starch and an iron to turn the edges on some shapes. I did a tutorial on this board on using that method. I think I titled it "Here is the Applique tutorial I promised" under madamekelly.
Take a deep breath, and remember this is supposed to be fun. You kind of remind me of me when I started out quilting. I learned to see it a different way. We are quilters, we make quilts, the end result is a wonderful thing, but the process is what satisfies our souls. (At least mine)

reneewill3

Thank you for the confidence. This is my first quilt and I am certain I will learn lots of things before I complete it, and I'm sure that I will have 100 more stupid questions before it is over, lol....thanks to everyone who has tried to help.

madamekelly

This is a great tutorial, the only thing I can add is that I make one more stitch on each side than she does but only because that is easier for me to do.