Method: Foundation Piecing by Hand

I cut the paper to the exact size of what the finished piece is going to be and sew around the edges of the paper with the paper pinned to the piece. (one piece of paper per piece of fabric, sew the fabric the edges of the paper abut). This can be tricky however.

An easier method is freezer paper and iron the pieces on. Or, opt for address stickers cut to the proper shape and try that.

There is also the English Paper Piecing method. Cut paper to size of finished piece. Baste edge of fabric all around the paper. Careful removal of paper is optional at this point. Whipstitch the pieces of fabric together. (this is mainly known with Grandmother's Flower Garden).

-georg

Try using fine muslin or interlining to draw the foundation on. Not nearly as difficult to sew through as paper, and, of course, it is left in - no paper to tear out. When you are drawing on fabric, place a very fine sheet of sandpaper underneath your fabric - or I did actually see a product from a quilt shop that replicates sandpaper! If your fins fabric is pressed to adhere to freezer paper, I believe it is OK to run it through your printer, if your foundations are on your computer, and you prefer not to have to draw them all. If you want to use the fold back to the line method - try using freezer paper. That way the fabric sticks to it so doesn't move around while you are sewing. With hand sewing it though, I fear the freezer paper might come unstuck. Even with a machine, I often have to re-press.

In message , Dannielle writes

I have done this on a nonwoven interfacing kind of stuff - normally used to line fabric diapers so that any "poo" can be lifted and tossed so as to have less mess when washing. it does add stiffness to the quilt though

Hi Dannielle, if all you want is to work on the hand-stitching (not the paper piecing) a scrappy string quilt is great. I have now hand pieced three quilt tops. The first one was a shaded nine patch

. The hand quilting caused me to have to have thumb surgery. I just recovered enough to start quilting on the first scrappy string . While I was recovering, I pieced a blue scrappy string . The string quilt is so easy because you can use strips of any and every width. You sew them to squares of muslin - any lightweight fabric I guess. My squares are 6.5 inches. that seems to be a good size for my hands to work with. Here's a great place to see instructions: When I started hand piecing my stitches looked like a 5 year old did them. I can proudly say that now it's hard to tell them from machine stitching and it didn't take many squares before I got there.

Good luck with the hand stuff. I love it because I spend so much time traveling to see my grandbabies in Houston. The first one is titled "from Atlanta to Houston and back again". The others may have the same title - just #2 and #3

I almost always do Foundation Piecing by Hand and I use 'Stitch and Tear' that I get from my LQS. Its a bit like a fine interfacing - but it tears away. I don't put it through the printer, but its easy to trace onto.

When you stitch into it it really softens up and you hardly know its there - just feels like another layer of fabric.

Another thing that I've used are used fabric softener sheets. Once used (or you can wash again and dry to remove all scent and stiffness), you can iron on a very low heat, trace your pattern on and leave the sheets in place when you piece your blocks together. I always machine stitch, but I think they would be pliable enough to hand stitch. ??

Nancy in NS

This is how we do Manx quilting - works great.

I'll second that, thanks Cheryl. LOL

The worst part is tracing the foundation on to the vilene :-(

Dee in Oz

Cats wrote:

We have a stencil here (original one was cardboard but they wore it out! so I made one of template plastic) for a standard size block and use that to trace onto the foundation. It's worth the effort of making the stencil once to use hundreds of times.

Of course - the Manx quilters were often the young girls of the household, and they managed with no marks and by very poor light with minimal tools, so we are the lucky ones aren't we? lol

I did it! I broke down and tried the whole pressing muslin to freezer paper and running it through my printer trick. And, although the printer isn't terribly fond of it, it is working! I make DH stand by the printer and load the fabric through (since the printer is in a different room than my computer) and that way he can catch any problems whilst it is running.

I have printed out three copies of my piece and will be working on getting the little pieces cut today. I've pulled out my scraps and can't wait to start working on this one. I think I am even going to teach my friend how to do this, since she does nothing but sew by hand! I'll make a quilter out of her yet!

Dannielle

Patti wrote:

Yay! Well done you (and your DH for taking on the assistant's role >gthe printer and load the fabric through (since the printer is in a

Thanks! I cut out all of the pieces for the two blocks that I have printed and ready to go (same pattern on both) and now all I have to do is get my little "bag" ready with needles, thread and scissors and I'll be ready for my first quilt group meeting on Saturday!

DS is doing fantastic. He's growing so fast that I sometimes worry that he'll reach 7ft by the time he's 3! He won't see the cardiologist again until December...so I'm hoping for a great birthday present.

Dannielle

Patti wrote: