Freezer Paper Piecing The Great Outdoors Tent

I love the tent so much in The Great Outdoors quilt, that I'd thought I'd put together a video showing how I put the tent together using freezer paper.

The tent in the Great Outdoors quilt was Foundation Paper Pieced the traditional way. All the seams were stitched through the paper, which was fine. 

Note: the pattern has been updated since making the video, switching the labeling of the E and F units. The multi-fabric unit F in the video is now unit E, and the new F is old background E. Though the order doesn't really matter, it just makes for a better looking unfinished block. This is the before, and the after.

Anyway, what I found was that for the large size fabric pieces in the F unit (now E), I had to use too many pins to hold it to the paper, which resulted in not only paper warping, but the fabric flopped all over the place.

Determined to continue using the traditional paper piecing method, I folded up a couple of pieces of tape and held the fabric to the paper that way. Certainly not the best idea, but it worked. 

And I kicked myself for not printing out the tent pattern onto freezer paper, my favorite way of paper piecing.

Why do I love freezer paper for paper piecing projects? Because it holds the fabric pieces firmly in place, the seams can be pressed open if needed, and there is no paper to rip off the back of the block when finished. Three big wins in my world!

In the Great Outdoors pattern, the tent can be made using either method, though I recommend freezer paper. And that recommendation brought about the idea for making a video to see how it's done, as a reference for those who have the  pattern. Of course, it can also be viewed to learn how to paper piece using freezer paper. 

The video starts out using the freezer paper foundation piecing method, where pieces of fabric are added to a unit that contains three fabrics (unit now labeled E in the pattern). The sewing takes place next to the folder freezer paper seam line, not through the paper. (Also see the written tutorial, Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing)

And as the video goes along, the freezer paper seam allowances tend to get a bit in the way, and a switch to Freezer Paper Template Piecing would have worked better. In that method, the freezer paper seam allowances are removed before any fabric pieces are sewn, as seen in this example from another project.

In re-watching this video, I will say I need to shift the piece against the machine bed more to the left, as I caught the paper underneath several times. That's ok in this block, as it's not crucial in getting things lined up, but if I had a more precise block I was working on, it would be an issue. 

Given that and all the folding back of paper seam allowances, the pieces go together to make a realistic tent. And as usual, there are tips and tricks along the way!

Enjoy watching the tent being created, and think about trying paper piecing with freezer paper, both as a foundation and as templates, on your next paper pieced project.

Happy Quilting!

My Favorite Patterns

Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing

Ready for one more paper piecing technique? I've saved the best for last!

I recently covered foundation paper piecing and freezer paper template piecing in making the Chocolate Dipped Strawberries. A third berry to complete the runner was made with my favorite technique, freezer paper foundation piecing.

This method is almost identical to foundation paper piecing, but instead of a thin paper, it uses freezer paper and there is no sewing through the paper.

First, a few notes:
If the final block contains units that get assembled into a block, make marks on seam lines on the dull side of the freezer paper for matching and alignment. 

The print on the dull side of freezer paper is the reverse of the final block. The freezer paper is always ironed to the wrong side of the fabric. 

Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing

Fabric pieces for freezer paper foundation piecing can be cut to size with templates, adding a 1/4" seam allowance,

OR use over-sized shapes that will be trimmed. Just make sure that the shape area is covered. 

With freezer paper foundation piecing, all fabrics get pressed to the freezer paper. In the above picture, I've ironed my first piece, the white, to the freezer paper, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance extending past the drawn stitching line.

That seam allowance is released from the freezer paper, and with the help of the firm edge of a postcard, the freezer paper is folded back along the drawn seam.

If necessary, use an Add-a-Quarter ruler (affiliate link) to trim the seam allowance to 1/4".  Position the next fabric piece, right sides together, lining up seam allowance cut edges, and flipping onto the freezer paper to check coverage. 

At the sewing machine, stitch next to the fold, starting and stopping in the adjacent seam allowances.

Press the seam and the second fabric piece to the freezer paper.

As before, use the postcard to create a fold on the next seam line. Trim the seam to 1/4" with an Add-a-Quarter ruler.

Add the next piece, same as before. When all fabric pieces are added, trim the unit/block with 1/4" seam allowances on the edges. If there are several units for a block, keep the freezer paper attached to match up the units. When the joining seam, either stitch through the paper, fold back the paper, or cut off that seam allowance of the units. Only after the entire block is assemble is the freezer paper removed.

Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing Pros and Cons

Pros:

• accurate
• easy to do
• freezer paper printouts can be used 2-4 times
• no messy, tedious paper removal - freezer paper peels off

Cons:

• presser foot may not glide easily over shiny freezer paper
• difficulty running freezer paper through the printer (hint: tape a regular piece of paper to the shiny freezer paper side, along the printer feeder edge - this gives the printer something to grab)
• no control over seam pressing direction
• pattern printed in reverse which may cause fabric placement confusion

For me, the Pros far outweigh the Cons. Freezer paper foundation piecing is my go-to method for paper piecing - it's accurate, with no messy paper removal. My kind of quilting!

This concludes the 3- part series of paper piecing tutorials:

Foundation Paper Piecing,

Freezer Paper Template Piecing,

Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing.

Try them all and choose your favorite!

Happy Quilting!

My Favorite Patterns

Freezer Paper Template Piecing

Last week, I covered foundation paper piecing, and this week is devoted to Freezer Paper Template Piecing. 

Both techniques are well covered in the Handy Pocket Guide to Paper Piecing by Tacha Bruecher (affiliate link), a concise little book, full of useful tips and fun blocks to make. Plus it doesn't take up a ton of room on the shelf!

There are a few important tips to keep in mind before starting with freezer paper template piecing:

• print an extra copy of the pattern as a guide

• mark ALL seam lines with tick marks for matching before cutting the pattern apart for templates

• work one area at a time to avoid mixing up pieces

Another tip I've learned over the years is to iron two pieces of freezer paper together before making templates, as the freezer paper can shrink a bit. It's totally up to the quilter to do this or not. I, personally, did not do this for my Chocolate Dipped Strawberries project, and the berries turned out fine. So let's see how to freezer paper template piece!

Freezer Paper Template Piecing

First, print or draw the pattern onto the dull side of freezer paper. Make matching marks on ALL of the seam lines, then, using a rotary blade for paper, cut the pattern apart on the seam lines. Leave the seam allowance lines at the block edges intact.

Iron the freezer paper templates to the wrong side of the fabric. Cut out the fabric pieces, adding 1/4" seam allowances around all edges of the templates, keeping the templates on the fabric.

If the seam allowances at the block edges get cut off, just add a mark as a reminder to add more fabric in that area. In the picture below, I made an X because the paper seam allowance at the block edge is missing. That X is my note to add a bit more seam allowance (maybe even more than shown!) to that edge. 

Using the marks made on the seam lines, line up the pieces with seam allowances even, and push pins through at the marks, keeping the pins straight up and down.

Here's what the unit looks like from the back, with pins at both marks.

With another set of pins, pin the pieces together, straight in from the edge of the seam allowance so as not to cause a shift. Then stitch as close as possible next to the template edge.

When joining large pieces or units, I recommend taking 5-8 basting stitches, 4.0-5.o in length, to check the accuracy of the match/alignment. Because these pieces are not very big, I stitched all the way across with a 1.8-2.0 stitch length, starting and stopping at the outer edge of the seam allowance.

Looks good on the front, with a slight bit of stitching away from the template at the top. If that happens, either restitch the seam, or move the freezer paper template making sure it's still aligned with the other piece.

Make a thorough check of the back too, as it's easy to sew through the freezer paper, or be far away from the template. The backside below looks good enough for me. And accepting that may be my downfall - keep reading!

Open up and lay the pieces flat for one last check of alignment. Time to press that seam.

With freezer paper templates, there are two options for seam pressing, either as a personal choice, or a project necessity. The seams can be pressed open, eliminating seam bulk and creating a flat block, OR pressed to one side, as in normal piecing. Before choosing, examine the block and decide which pressing option is best for the block to eliminate fabric buildup. 

Since I was testing both foundation paper piecing and freezer paper template piecing on my strawberries, I chose to the press the seams open with the template method. That's shown on the berry on the left, with the foundation pieced berry on the right.

I liked the nice, flat block from open seams, and hubby liked the seams to one side of foundation piecing, thinking it gave the berry more dimension. Ultimately, the decision depends on block complexity and personal preference. Below, the freezer paper template pieced/open seams berry, 

and the foundation paper pieced/seams to one side berry.

Not a huge difference between the two, but I did notice an increase in block length using freezer paper templates and open seams. My guess is that my stitching wasn't close enough to the template edge, causing the unit to grow - that acceptance bit me! Add to that the few threads of fabric that weren't taken being taken up in pressing to one side. The two together stretched out the freezer paper template berry, causing a wider tip after cutting to fit the block dimensions. 

The second berry is accurate because of stitching though drawn lines of foundation paper piecing. 

I also noticied that the stitch-in-the-ditch quilting practically disappeared into the open seams of the template pieced berry. Not that big of a deal as it's hard to see, but I noticed it when laying down those stitches and found it odd.

Pros and Cons of freezer paper template piecing

Pros

• no paper to tear out 
• open seam pressing is an option
• templates help stabilize slippery fabrics
• templates are pressed to the wrong side of the fabric for a mirror image block of the printed copy. The basic technique can be used on the right side of fabrics such as for Cynthia England's Picture Piecing technique

Cons

• requires accurate cutting around templates
• one section worked at a time to avoid mixing up pieces
• requires accurate stitching along template edges or units may grow in size
• seams may need resewing due to misalignment
• templates may fall off 

Freezer paper template piecing may be tricky but isn't hard, and it certainly has it's place in the quilter's toolbox. I personally found it a bit more labor intensive than foundation piecing, with a decrease in accuracy. But it all depends upon the project as to which method is more suitable. Give both a try, and see which is your favorite!

Happy Quilting!

Foundation Paper Piecing

As promised, this is part 1 of 3 tutorials showcasing three different ways to paper piece. I chose to test each paper piecing technique on the berries of my Chocolate Dipped Strawberries runner, to see which I liked best. 

These tutorials are quite long and picture heavy, so I decided to divide them up to better explain the three paper piecing techniques:  

foundation paper piecing
freezer paper template piecing 
freezer paper foundation piecing

The first two techniques are nicely explained in the Handy Pocket Guide to Paper Piecing by Tacha Bruecher (affiliate link), which is my April 2020 Book of the Month choice. 

I'll go over my experience with both, and add in freezer paper foundation piecing which is not covered in the booklet. For today, the focus is on foundation paper piecing, the more traditional way to paper piece.

Here's a hint before starting any paper piecing project: add tick marks on the seam lines of the paper piecing pattern, as shown in red below. These marks make joining templates and units much easier to match up.

Foundation Paper Piecing

For this technique, a thin, lightweight paper is used, such as Carol Doak's Foundation Paper (affiliate link), 

which is easy to sew through and tear out, though a shortened stitch length is required. 

Pieces of fabric can be cut using templates, making sure of enough coverage of the area, including seams, 

OR the fabric can be large pieces that are trimmed. I use a stiff card to fold back on the seam line, 

then cut the seam allowance with an Add-a-Quarter ruler (affiliate link).

Either way, the first piece is pinned in place, and the next piece placed to line up at the seam edge.

I'm using a template cut piece here, but recommend a larger piece of fabric just to make sure there is enough coverage. Plus a larger piece helps with placing angled pieces.

Before stitching, verify placement and coverage by flipping the second piece over into position and holding it up to the light to check the coverage through the paper.

With foundation paper piecing, all of the stitching is done through the paper. Use a short stitch length, 1.5-2.0, and start and end the stitching just outside the seam allowance.

Press the seam, and pin the second piece, if necessary, before adding the next piece. When the unit is finished, trim the unit/block on the 1/4" seam allowance lines.

When it comes time to assemble units into a block, match up the tick marks made at the beginning, keeping the pins straight up and down. Pin through all layers perpendicular to the seam allowance to prevent shifting. 

Take 5-7 basting stitches (over 5.0 in length) at crucial matching areas, checking for accuracy. It's a lot easier to rip out basting stitches than one long line of short stitches! 

When all is good, stitch the seam through the papers. 

Once the block is assembled, trim it to the proper size, and gently remove the paper, trying not to loosen the stitches.

And ta-da, a foundation paper pieced block is finished!

Foundation paper piecing pros and cons:
pro

• accurate
• easy to do

cons

• tedious paper removal
• no control over seam pressing direction
• patterns printed in reverse which may cause fabric size/placement confusion

Ultimately, it's a choice as to whether this is the paper piecing technique to use. For some projects, it's the best choice, for others, maybe not. Hopefully, this tutorial will a least give the confidence to try it.

There's still more to come:

Freezer Paper Template Piecing

Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing

Happy Quilting!

My Favorite Patterns