Quilt in a Day Forums

I know what paper piecing is, but what is foundation piecing? And what is it called that most of us probably do, which is simply follow the block diagram and sew with a 1/4" seam? Sorry if this seems like a DUH question but when I go do sites they talk about a pattern being foundation pieced. Is that the same thing? Help an old mentalpause woman out, please

Suz

Same thing except you draw the lines on a piece of muslin and you don't have to flip it to stitch. You can find info, pics, and videos on the web. Amie

Where you cut the blocks and sew with 1/4 inch is piecing. Foundation piecing is where you sew the blocks to a foundation. If it's a paper foundation, it's foundation paper piecing. Got it? AND there are no dumb questions!

Now, I have a question, is English paper piecing differnt from foundation paper piecing?

Here's a link to a description of English Paper Piecing. http://www.cddesigns.com/PaperPiecing/w ... g/what.htm

Think Grandmothers Flower Garden or Tumbling blocks.

Carol Doak comes to mind when I think Foundation Paper Piecing. She has written several books on the subject. If you go to her web site you can see it explained. It is www.caroldoak.com/ Also you can use muslin as a foundation and make you blocks but its not quite the same. Marge

I think of foundation piecing as where the 'foundation' is left in the quilt -- crazy quilts, string quilts, and occassionally log cabins.

Paper piecing is similar, as you use the paper as your 'foundation' but it is removed after you finish pieceing - Charolotte's crown, Carol Doak patterns, anything with a 'sharp point' or tiny pieces.

Now to totally confuse the above, I did a foundation pieced string quilt on pages from the phone book. So, I pulled the paper after the blocks were made.

Okay, so foundation and paper are close to the same thing, which helps. For those that do those type of piecings, do you prefer one over the other and why?

Suz

P.S. Thanks for the info!

Thanks for the English paper piecing site, Knitnoid. It is differnt from foundation paper piecing. Learn something new every day, ain't it grand? LOL

Here's my 2 cents on paper verus foundation.

It simply depends on what you are making.

Paper pieceing is used for precision - sharp points, weird angles, tiny pieces. The block when it's finished is stable enough that there is no need for an extra layer of fabric. The paper is removed from the quilt block either when the block is completed or when it is sewn to the next block.

Sewing on a fabric foundation, results in another layer of fabric. It's purpose it to provide stabalization so the block doesn't get pulled out of shape. Making a crazy quilt using all sorts of fabrics which may or may not be cut on the grain is a good example. I think El uses a foundation fabric in Egg Money Quilts on the Rocky Road to Kansas block.

On the other hand, I've used paper as a foundation (not the same as paper pieceing) for some string quilts. I didn't want the extra layer of fabric to quilt through and I left the paper on until the cut piece block was sewn in to the block.

Now how's that for mudding the waters.

Pam