For those of you who are new to quilting, you may be wondering what foundation piecing is.
For those of you who know foundation piecing, you may be curious about how you can use freezer paper for it.
Let me help you understand.
First, foundation paper piecing is NOT the same thing as English Paper Piecing (EPP).
EPP uses paper or cardboard templates. You cut the fabric out slightly larger than the template. Then, you tack the fabric around the template. The fabric pieces are stitched together, without sewing through the template. The templates are removed and can be reused. Trust me that it makes more sense when you see it.
With foundation paper piecing, you sew the fabric to the paper.
So why would you want to sew the fabric to the paper?
The paper or foundation is a lot like painting by the numbers. It tells you where to place your seams and how big the pieces should be just like paint by number diagrams show you where to put your brush with certain colors.
The reason for using foundation is the same as for painting by the numbers. It improves the accuracy of your art. We use foundation paper piecing when it is difficult to sew pieces, even those cut with templates, accurately.
You place your fabric on the wrong side of the foundation and use the lines to sew your seams. Yes – you sew through the paper and the fabric at the same time. You can see an example in the picture above.
The good thing about foundation paper piecing is that you have really accurate piecing. The bad part is that you have to remove the paper from the fabric. This is like ripping paper from a spiral notebook. You end up with little bits of paper everywhere! And the foundations are single use. This means you can go through a lot of paper on a large project.
Is there a way to get the accuracy without wasting so much paper? Yes – you can use freezer paper instead of regular paper.
Rather than sew through the lines on the paper, you sew next to the lines. (see photo) The wax from the freezer paper sticks to the fabric and holds it into place much like the seam would. You use an iron to heat the freezer paper and “fuse” it to the fabric. Don’t worry, it will peel off whenever you need.
You can use the freezer paper multiple times. After several uses though, it will start to lose its stickiness. So, you will eventually have to make a new foundation.
Therefore, freezer paper eliminates the paper shreds and saves paper. And, since you can peel it off, it is easier to fix mistakes.
That sounds great – right? So, you should just replace the freezer paper for all your projects.
Not so fast. Freezer paper does have some limitations.
Freezer paper is size limited. You can tape paper pieces together to make larger foundations. So, it would seem that you could do the same for freezer paper. The problem is that tape and irons don’t mix. And you have to use an iron with the freezer paper technique, but not the traditional paper version.
Also, not all fabrics work well with freezer paper and irons. Quilting cotton is just fine. But you would need to check on other fabrics.
There is another disadvantage to both traditional foundation paper piecing and freezer paper piecing. This method requires more fabric than templates. With the foundation method, you cut pieces (generally rectangular) larger than the space you are “covering” and trim the excess. So, depending upon the angles and the size of the pieces, sometimes there is a large amount of scrap. Of course, the scraps can be used for other projects.
You need to weight the advantages of more perfect piecing against the disadvantages of less efficient use of fabric. To me, unless my fabric stash is limited, I will take accuracy over aggravation with templates.
Then, you need to see if the foundation will fit on either 8 1/2″ x 11″ precut freezer paper or rolled freezer paper. If it does, it is up to you whether you stick with paper or switch to freezer paper for your best piecing.
Here are two links to videos that demonstrate the two techniques:
Please let me know in the comments which you prefer!
Happy Quilting
P.S. If you want to try your hand at Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing join us for the Shining Star Runner Class.