English paper piecing problem

My quilt guild is making a seven sisters quilt for charity. I am paper piecing
my two blocks and so far, am not having much luck. I am as careful as I can be
when stitching the fabric to the paper, but when I sew the pieces together, I
end up with a hole in the middle of the stars. Any help out there?
SueS

I am as careful as I can be
when stitching the fabric to the paper, but when I sew the pieces together, I
end up with a hole in the middle of the stars. Any help out there?

I'm a little confused here. Are you talking about English Paper Piecing or
Foundationm Paper Piecing? If you are English Paper Piecing ( a hand
technique), I can't figure out why you are stitching fabric TO paper instead of
hand basting "around" papers. Foundation Paper Piecing is a machine technique
that in volves stitching fabric TO a paper pattern.

Help!

Kathy


http://community.webshots.com/user/katquilts53

Repeat after me......."Spray Starch is my Friend!"

Do you have instructions on how to do it? I just learned (and I'm not crazy
about it - too fiddly). Here's a web page with instructions. Maybe you have
one of the pieces of fabric the wrong way round or something.

Shirley

--
My Quilt Site
http://quilts.inspiring-thoughts.com

Inspiring Thoughts
http://members.tripod.com/inspiring-thoughts/index.html
"Shstringfellow" wrote in message
...
My quilt guild is making a seven sisters quilt for charity. I am paper
piecing
my two blocks and so far, am not having much luck. I am as careful as I
can be
when stitching the fabric to the paper, but when I sew the pieces
together, I
end up with a hole in the middle of the stars. Any help out there?
SueS

Hullo Sue
I wonder in which direction you are doing your sewing?
I have recently finished an EPP small quilt, so the snags are fresh in
my mind. If you are sewing from the edges to the centre, then I can see
that you might get holes. I had, effectively, a ten-pointed star at the
centre of mine. I was very careful to get the fabric taut around the
papers, and kept it that way while basting. When you arrive at the
corners, in the basting exercise, you may believe it necessary to turn
the left-over-tails inwards, so that the edges are clear. This is *not*
at all necessary and simply makes more bulk at the points. Bulk will
always cause inaccuracies. So, leave the tails where they naturally
lie. It is perfectly easy to sew the sides together with them there.
Then line up each side as carefully as possible. You want the centre end
and the outside end to match exactly. If they don't, you might have to
'fudge' things a bit. Starting at the centre will help avoid the holes
you mention.
HTH
..
In article ,
Shstringfellow writes
My quilt guild is making a seven sisters quilt for charity. I am paper piecing
my two blocks and so far, am not having much luck. I am as careful as I can be
when stitching the fabric to the paper, but when I sew the pieces together, I
end up with a hole in the middle of the stars. Any help out there?
SueS

--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

I can't figure out why you are stitching fabric TO paper instead of

I baste the fabric to the paper, then whip stitch the pieces together and then
take the basting out. This is the way that I was taught to do it with paper- I
don't like the method where you just stitch the corners together without
stitching all the way around- I know you have to do that with the plastic
templates, but it just doesn't work for me, especially when using flimsy paper.
SueS

the left-over-tails inwards, so that the edges are clear. This is *not*
at all necessary and simply makes more bulk at the points. Bulk will
always cause inaccuracies.

Ok, I think I know what you are saying- will try this with the rest of the
pieces. Yes, I do start stitching from the middle out.
SueS

ok.....got it now!

When I EPP and I come to an inner corner intersection, I put the needle through
both pieces exactly at the corner and take a slip stitch. Then without
starting a new thread, I just keep going. No holes ever.

Kathy
http://community.webshots.com/user/katquilts53

Repeat after me......."Spray Starch is my Friend!"

Lay out your stars, and before sewing any sides together, run your needle
around through each star point, catching just a couple of threads at the
very tip. Pull the points together, and this should eliminate the hole.
Roberta in D

"Shstringfellow" wrote in message
...
My quilt guild is making a seven sisters quilt for charity. I am paper
piecing
my two blocks and so far, am not having much luck. I am as careful as I
can be
when stitching the fabric to the paper, but when I sew the pieces
together, I
end up with a hole in the middle of the stars. Any help out there?
SueS

Sometimes, with EPP, there can be a problem with bulk in the seams.
When the paper is cut up, it fits together just fine, but when you sew
fabric round it, the extra bit on the edge can cause inaccuracies of
fit. This is a particular problem if you have blocks with different
numbers of seams in them. Just easing a smidgen off the template can
sometimes work wonders.

I made some EPP pieces with velvets and silk dupions many years ago,
and had to trim little slivers from the edges of the pieces to get
them to fit...

Helen Howes

Our Lady of the Biscuits


http://www.helenhowestextiles.co.uk