economical foundation papers for paper piecing?
 

For those of you who paper piece, is there something you use for foundation paper that is economical? I'm new to pp'ing---got a package of Carol Doak's foundation papers for Christmas. I love the papers, and am loving pp'ing, but at nearly $10 for a package of 100 papers, that's 10 cents a sheet. Too expensive (for me) to be practical, if I want to keep paper piecing. I have tracing paper, but I doubt that would go through the printer, and I'd rather not hand trace every block in a quilt. I was thinking white 15 lb. continuous perforated computer paper might work, but don't have any to try. Have any of you used that for pp'ing, and how did it work? Or is there something else out there I haven't thought of? Thanks in advance for any help.

I use regular copy paper--sew with a very small stitch, and that perforates it for easy removal.

You can buy 500 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 newsprint & it tears easily & is cheap.

What WandaVa said.

I use regular copy paper, remove thread from my needle an stich on the lines. Change needle and sew PP block as you like. Easy to remove, an you have a line on the back side for reference. I have one needle that I only use to perforate paper, it's an old dull one I have used for years.

My favorite is manila paper. It's the kind in the Scribble Pads from the Dollar Tree Store. There are 60 sheets for $1.00 and they are 9" X 12". I cut them down to 8.5" X 11" and have no problems running them through my printer. The manila paper also tears off easily.

A ream (500 sheets) of 8½ x 11 newsprint (which is the same thing as manilla paper I believe) sells for $3.56 at Dick Blick and works great for paper piecing without having to cut anything down to size for your printer. That works out to less than ¾ of a penny per sheet. Many of the reviews on Blick's website are from quilters who use it. :)

http://www.dickblick.com/products/bl...print/#reviews

I agree - newsprint is my new favorite. Before I bought the newsprint, I used the cheapest copy paper that I could find. This is what I ordered recently:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/bl...ose-newsprint/

as I could not find it anywhere in the store. Works nicely in my printer. I keep the ream in a large ziplock bag to keep out any extra moisture and only load what I need in the printer.

I use 8 1/2 by 11 white newsprint as well. Be careful what printer you use. I tried to use our office printer which was very fast and it didn't like the thinness of the news print and kept jamming. I used a small desktop printer and had no problems.

I have tried every paper for paper piecing. I like newsprint for tearing away but it's fragile to sew on. Copy paper is sturdier to sew but tedious to remove. The specialty papers are for the most part in the middle of the two. What I use now is lightweight vellum or Stable Stuff that is left in. To me it's cost vs my time and frustration level. If you really have to save money, use the method of not having to sew on the paper at all and can reuse the paper.