Paper-piecing - NY Beauty Block

A couple starting notes:
A) Some peoplefind it helpful to pre-perforate their pattern on the lines before sewing on the fabric. This can be useful to help you fold more easily, as instructed below, and tear away the paper pattern more easily. An example of the perforated pattern can be found on my pineapple block PP tutorial.
B) Decrease the size of your stitch length a little. My standard length is set at 2.5 and I reduce to 2.0. This helps keep the seam set when you pull the paper away at the end.

Tutorial:

1) Take your first piece of fabric and your second piece of fabric and put them right sides together, along the long edge. With the B2 on the bottom, then the B1, then the pattern paper, print side up, hold all up to a light and be sure the fabric extends past the line between space B1 and space B2 by 1/4”. (picture to be posted soon)

2) Take to the machine and sew with paper on top. Start sewing directly at the line intersections

and finish down the line at the next intersections.

3) Take off machine, flip over and finger press seam open.

4) Turn back over and cut excess fabric off, as instructed below, before sewing on B3 fabric.
a) Fold pattern back on the line between B2 and B3.

b) Place your ruler on the fold measuring ¼” away from the fold,

c) trim off the excess fabric.

d) Unfold the pattern.

5) Take the B3 fabric and with right sides together with piece B2, matching edges, put pattern side up and sew along the line between B2 and B3.

Repeat steps 3

and 4 to remove excess fabric and continue in this manner until all B sections are sewn on.

You should end up with something like this.

6) Now, pin fabric to piece A, wrong side of fabric to back of paper pattern. Be sure fabric extends ¼” beyond the pattern lines.

If you trust yourself with scissors, use those to cut along the curved ¼” seam line (or ¼” away from pattern line if the distance isn’t already marked with a dotted line like in my pattern.) Cut BOTH pattern and fabric together.

If you are good with the rotary cutter, cut the same way. Looks like this.

Now do the same with section C

and trim around Section B.

7) Remove paper from the back of each section, tearing it off gently and using teasers to pull out small stuck pattern pieces.

Lastly, sew A, to B, and then to C to complete the block. Press to set and all done!

Paper-piecing - Cutting Fabric for Pieced Sections

You’ve got your paper-pierce ("PP") block chosen. You printed it out and are ready to go but no where does it tell you how many colors to cut or how big the pieces need to be. It simply gives you an order for putting the pieces together. So now what? Easy, just get out your ruler, a piece of paper to write down measurements and follow the steps below to avoid having fabric pieces which are too large and difficult to work with.

After you print the pattern, cut out the various sections leaving the ¼” seam line untouched. If there is no line outside of the pattern, ensure you leave a minimum of ¼” extra paper around each section.

Take one section and measure each space within the section by taking your ruler and measuring the line of the two longer sides and adding ½” to each end.

For example, this line measures 2 ¼” but if I cut that, then I will have no room for a seam allowance.

So, I move the ruler to start the measurement at ½” and then at the other end, I add another ½” making the total length of one side to cut 3 ¾”. Measure the second side the same way and come out with the same (it’s a square), 3 ¾”.

Therefore, my “A” fabric will be 3 ¾” square.

For the “B” fabric, I am using 2 different colors. One of the triangle sides measures 1 7/8”.

If I can avoid cutting in 1/8 increments, I do so I will round this number up to the nearest ¼”. Therefore, for the blue B fabric, I come up with 2”x3”, need 5 pieces.

For the red B fabric, I need 6 pieces at 3”x2 ½”

and for the C fabric, I need a 6”x6” square.

There you have it. Cutting is complete. Now move on to how to the tutorial on how to piece it!

Paper-piecing Tutorial - Removing the Paper

1) After your block is completely sewn, get comfy somewhere and start tearing paper away from the stitches, as close to them as possible.

2) Gently pinch the stitches as you near them when tearing, this helps them stay together instead of being pulled apart by a too hard tug on the paper, especially if the paper isn’t tearing easily.

3) When you have little pieces of paper stuck under a stitch or in corners, use your teasers to grasp them and gently work them out.

4) Once all paper is removed and discarded, press the block and set aside until you are ready to complete your top.

One pineapple block complete!

And only 29 more to go! lol Doesn't sound like a lot, right? It isn't actually but when you struggle with trying to remember accurate paper piecing on a 15" block, it takes a LONG time. Really long. Say, 3 days long.

Pick block up, set it down, sew one piece, walk away, figure out how to cut long strip off and sew next piece, walk back and sit down, sew another strip, forget what I just did, get up and ponder all over again.

THAT was my routine for three days. For a 15" block. Truly.

However, once I got to piece 30, I was making better progress and went straight from 30 to piece 52 without needing to get up. So really, it took me 3 days to figure out how to get 30 pieces together and only 1 hour to do the last 22.

Sad, isn't it?

My mother joked and told me it all starts going down hill on my 35th birthday this past month but really, my memory? Nah, forget that, I'm choosing to say it is because the alternative is to say I never had much retention capabilities in the first place!

Alright, back on topic. So this got me thinking, how can I make life easier on myself. I really enjoy paper piecing once I get going, it might be my favorite technique so far but getting started after a hiatus just stinks.

I am thinking I'll write the how-to down somewhere. But, if I go through that trouble, it better be where I can find it easily. Well, that would be here and, it might just be a nice little helpful tool for anyone else who wonders along and reads. Today, I will piece another block, or two, and add a tutorial this weekend unless something goes horribly wrong in which case, you will have a how NOT to screw up paper piecing tutorial!

Found a new blog & it has a giveaway!

I found this blog today and I've searched around the store and hey, I like it! I'm going to link it as soon as I find out how but in the meantime, I'm entering for the giveaway so I am shamelessly posting a link here, in this blog.

Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Cheers!

http://fabricfamilyfun.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/one-fabulous-year/