I just sewed mine together with 1/4 inch seams, by hand, just like I would anything else, starting and stopping 1/4 inch from each end. I have never seen the fun or difficulty of whip stitching them together using the paper shapes. I guess call me old fashioned--that's how my mom and grandmother's did it and how I did it. They had never heard of English paper piecing. If your pieces are cut accurately, it's a snap to just seam them together. My MIL actually pieced one on the sewing machine like that--but she had a bit more patience than I do!