carriem

Pam--I leave my paper on until I am ready to start assembling my blocks. It keeps them from stretching/getting out of shape since we are taking a year to get them all done...

Pam P

Thank you Carriem, I wondered about how they would hold up for a year, although I have a notebook set up to hold them (thanks QuiltingNinaSue). They just don't seem to lay as flat as those I am seeing in the photos. I will post pictures later today.

QuiltingNinaSue

Pam P , I remove my pp paper in the seams that need to lay flat or open and get pressed down flat. Hope that helps you. Do not worry about pp in the corners because Carol Doan does not, it will wash out later.

grandme26

I will be starting on my blocks this afternoon.

huskyquilter

I'm hoping I can finish one up tonight, but we'll see... Really wanted to finish a baby quilt before I started this (my adorable nephew George was born just a few days ago), but seeing these pics is inspiring me. I'm partway through quilting George's quilt. Maybe I'll take a bit of a break at some point tonight and pull out my backup machine to work on this, so I don't have to change the setup of my quilting machine. Funny, to say I'm taking a break from quilting, to work on quilting. Ha ha...

JaneH

I love the blocks here and the colours are wonderful. But....aaaarrrgghh..... I've been working on the first one all afternoon and now have to either pick the whole thing apart or start over with new fabric and new cuttings. I've nearly lost the will to live! To be honest, I think I'm shooting way above my skill level. I got almost done I thought, but then realized that my seams don't line up. I probably didn't cut out carefully enough as I did it very quickly, and also have had a really difficult time with getting the seam allowance straight. But this moan is just to say that I'm inspired by all the beautiful blocks so far. I'm going to have another go tomorrow, but if I can't make it work, I'll just slip into the shadows and be happy to admire everyone else's efforts.

CookyIN

Jane, IMO you can't rely on the foundation papers for the seams to line up. And that isn't just with these, it's with any you do because we're all human.

I have to to the "pin trick" where I put a straight pin through the matching point of the first piece and then bring in the second piece and place the pin through the matching point of the second piece. From there, I place straight pins to secure the two pieces, being careful not to shift them. It helps to hold them by the outer seam edge when placing the pins.

Now, here's an invaluable trick from Carol Doak. Take the pinned piece to your sewing machine and set your stitch length to a basting stitch (that's 6 on my machine). Take a couple stitches through the outer corners and any matching points. You'll just baste, lift your presser foot and pull the fabric to the next point, take a couple stitches and so on. When done, remove the pins and finger press the seam open. If your points match, go ahead and sew your final seam (removing the basting stitches when you're done). If they don't, it's easy to remove the basting stitches and try again to match your points.

I'm on the second block and it took me three tries to match my points, but with this method, it isn't too stressful.

Honchey

Jane, My advice to you is to print out the templates..use them as a guide to cutting the fabric larger than the template itself at least by a quarter of an inch..use a glue stick when placing the fabric on the pping section when adding another piece of fabric , line it up then pin on the seamline and flip it to see if it covers the section it needs to cover...if it doesn't, re adjust it so that it does before you stitch with the machine..I do this with every piece of fabric..

Don't give up.. Do me a favor and work on block # 79 "Patience" using the pping method.. cut each piece of fabric 3 " square..This is a very easy block to make..when you're done , post it here..
AND, for any others new to this way of sewing blocks do the same as I've asked Jane to do...

JaneH

Thanks for the encouragement. I think I'm going to print it out AGAIN, this time on heavy card stock, and try to see if I can save this project. If not, I'll start over. And if THAT doesn't work, well.... I've learned my lesson.

katybob

JaneH, are you paperpiecing or "regular" piecing?