English Paper Piecing; iron on papers
 

Hello fellow quilters,

I am embarking on my first Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt with 1 inch hexagons. I know that there are regular little one inch hexagon papers that have traditionally been used. However, as I was researching, I also found iron on papers that fuse to the hexagon and partially wash off, leaving about t0 percent of the fibers behind after being washed. I was wondering whether others had worked with these iron on fusible papers and what your experience was. Is it better to simply use the simple papers and pull them out after? I am recreating an actual 1920’s quilt given to my grandmother for her wedding. It is in lovely pastels. Each flower has the yellow center. My fabric has just arrived and I am so excited to start! I look forward to hearing of your experiences

Thank you!

I am working on a hexagon quilt with 1.25-inch hexies. I've never tried the fusible papers so I can't honestly attest to them, but I have worked with the hexies that you can print off yourself on cardstock. I've tried the hand basting method and the glue stick method and I can tell you from that, I like both methods. The hand baste is quick and simple, so is the glue stick. With the hand baste, you just snip the basted stitches and you can pull the hexies out and the glue method, you just slowly peel the fabric off of the cardstock, and then you can pull it out. Hand basting is good with 100% cotton fabrics, the glue works great for other fabrics. Right now, my hexies are being made with men's shirts, so the glue method works better for those.

Railroadersbrat, thanks for sharing the methods that you are using. I like the idea of printing the hexagon shapes myself so that I don’t have to wait so long to begin. I know that whoever made my grandmother’s quilt used the baste method because I found a button box of little hexies left over from the quilt that were carefully basted. It makes so much sense as to why the glue method would work for the men’s shirt fabric. I love your attitude of do whatever works best! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Jessie Aller offers heavier-duty freezer paper laser-cut hexies (and other shapes such as triangles, diamonds, etc). They're wonderful. You can find her on Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FarawayRoa...=hdr_shop_menu. It says she's taking a break (she either just had a baby or is about to) but says you can email her if you can't wait. Believe me, her freezer paper templates are worth waiting for.
Check out her IG page for inspiration and visuals of her precuts. https://www.instagram.com/jessiealler/

Peckish, thank you so much for this lead. I will be checking that out!

I make my own freezer paper papers with a Fiskars Paper punch.

I have made a few GMFG quilts one you can see as my avatar. I like using card stock and glue sticks. I have not tried the iron on's that you are speaking of. If you do try them I would be interested on how many uses you get out of each piece.

I do a lot of EPP too. Depending on what the pattern provides I normally make myself a master to copy of the shapes I need to make one block (or multiples if they fit on the master) and print a few. I cut and hand baste. I make my own templates out of heavy clear plastic for the fabric and use a Frixion pen to outline before I cut. After I have myself set up things move quite rapidly for EPP.

A fusible that washes away would be awesome!

I made myself templates on my Publisher program. I print that on cardstock, then stack 3 or 4 pieces of freezer paper underneath it with the fusible side up. Press the layers together, then cut out the hexies 3 or 4 at a time. When I make my own, I get the sizes and pieces I need.

Ahh yes! Freezer paper! All of my templates use it! For my 6" blocks, I design on paper, or copy a design. Then take a 8" square of freezer paper, iron just the top 1/4" to a blank 8 X 11" piece of paper. I then put that sheet down in the "receiving" paper drawer. The drawing goes in its place and I copy it!! Wonderful! Cut the pattern any way you want to make sewing and piecing it very easy. You can easily write of draw on the Papery side too if you want! Just remember, the original pattern will be reversed when copied. For most of mind it doesn't matter.

Yippee! I now have a huge bunch of patterns on paper that can easily be copied again. None has yet and I've been using this method for years!!