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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Rolling On....Freezer Paper Piecing Tutorial....

Here is a little tutorial for piecing the arcs of this wheel with freezer paper....



Once I have made my arcs for each quadrant of the circle and added 1/4 inch seam allowance to the arcs and the outside corner....I transfer each template to freezer paper {drawing on the paper side not the shiny side}....


To my freezer paper arcs I add lines to separate the segments.  Then I score the lines with the back of a seam ripper so that the paper is easier fold.  Just be careful not to press too hard when scoring...you don't want to cut the paper.

    
To prepare, I reduce my stitch length to about 1.7.  By reducing the stitch length I can be confident my stitches won't pull out when I take the paper off.  I get my iron ready....hot iron, no steam.  And the fabric for the segments.  The fabric pieces need to be at least 1/4 inch larger than the segment on each side.  

   
Begin by taking your first fabric and placing it with the wrong side toward the shiny side of the freezer paper.  The straight edge of the fabric can be even with the straight edge of the template {because I have added my seam allowance to my template}.....take this to the ironing board and press on the paper side until the paper  sticks to the fabric.


Fold the paper back at the next line {this will be the line indicating the next fabric}.....
Take this to the cutting mat and lay the acrylic ruler at the edge of the fold with a quarter inch of the ruler laying over the fold....cut a 1/4 inch beyond the fold and this will be your seam allowance.


Take the next fabric and place it - right sides facing - against the first fabric which is still pressed to the freezer paper.....sew a quarter inch seam allowance.  The stitching line will be right next to the fold in the freezer paper.  Do not stitch on the paper - just next to the fold in the paper.  I begin stitching about 1/4 inch before my template and 1/4 inch after the end of the template.    



Finger press the second segment open and then press with a hot, dry iron on the paper side.  Pressing out the second fabric and adhering it to the freezer paper. 



Again, fold on the next line, cut off the excess fabric to leave the 1/4 inch seam allowance and repeat the process with the next fabric.
Continue until you have competely covered the template with each fabric...


Simply trim all around the edges of the template {I have included my 1/4 inch seam allowance in the template so I don't have to add a 1/4 inch beyond the template}


After all arcs for a quadrant is finished you can sew them together following some simple tips for sewing curves....
find the center of the curves and finger press
place the concave piece on top - so you are looking at the concave piece as you sew
pin the center and the ends - and in between if it makes you more comfortable


The outside corner is treated the same way....


With this method you can reuse the freezer paper several times since you are not stitching through the paper.
Hope this helps.....
Now I think I will work on a little quilting :)


happy tuesday!
mary

16 comments:

  1. Very helpful and interesting - I've not seen your method before, where you don't actually stitch onto the paper.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Mary you make is look so easy - and you don't have to rip the paper of afterwards. Does this mean you can reuse the template?

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  3. Great tutorial as usual Mary!! If only freezer paper was readily available here. Maybe they will have where the candy corn is for sale!! Lol!

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  4. There's that blue rooster again! I love that guy! Freezer paper has to be one of the great discoveries in history!! Thank you for another fabulous tutorial!

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  5. Thanks for the great tutorial, love the way this looks. Also, LOVE the background fabric on this block, what is it?

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  6. Why have I never seen this before?!?!?! This is awesome and something I never would have thought of. I hate having to tear away and get all the little paper off afterwards. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Lovely quilting, great tut!!! I have been away from the computer for a day or so and missed 3 posts...wow.
    Mary

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  8. This is awesome Mary!! I just love your arches!! :o) I am curious ... is there a difference between freezer paper and wax paper? I have wax, but can put freezer on my shopping list if need be. :o) I hope you are having a great week.
    hugs. Trish

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  9. What an awesome tutorial, it's very clear. Judy Mathieson uses the same method for Mariners compass and I like that you don't have to rip paper.

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  10. Thank you, Mary, for explaining so well how to do foundation piecing w/o sewing thru the paper. I think you have gone over this before sometime, but I am a realllllyyy sloooowwww learner, so this is great info!

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  11. Well, I know it for sure,... I'm in love,...
    ;o)

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  12. You do make it look easy!!
    Bet I'd make a right dogs dinner of it!

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  13. Thanks for all the inspiration and tutorial. I added it to part one of your piecing the circle tut.

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  14. This is such a great and clear tutorial, thanks so much for sharing...now where can I buy freezer paper in the UK? ;) Bethx

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  15. Thanks for the great tutorial! It's wonderful. What is the name of this pattern and is it found in some book? If so, could you tell us the name of the book?

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