birgitkarola wrote:
This is exactly the same method Wendy shows in her instructions and our videos support. If it helps to watch this as an additional resource, that's fine.

For those who are struggeling with the freezer paper method. Last years Quilt Along on the Bernina blog had quite a few rows in this technique. Irene (Sugaridoo) has also some great tips on how to sew this economically.


She also has a video on how to print on freezer paper with a laser printer.

Abilene wrote:
Abilene, Looks like you got a number of good responses to your question. Accuracy is it for me. When you sew on the line, you are self correcting your block size with each piece
you add. Lets say you are making a pieced block with a lot of pieces and points near the edge of the block. If you are off 1/16 of an inch on your seam allowance, each piece added is another 1/16 and in the end, your block will be too big or too small (like a quarter inch maybe) depending on if you seam allowance was too wide by a 1/16 or too small.
Then when you multiply that by the number of blocks in the quilt, everything get way off. With paper piecing, you can not make it the wrong size as long as you sew on the line. The biggest problem most people have is placing the fabric to be added in such a way
that it covers the whole area when pressed open. There are lots of tricks for that too. HelenW

Abilene--Are you from Abilene, Tex. or Abilene, Kansas?

Abilene: Freezer paper will help you to piece together many small pieces of fabric that you could not seam together otherwise. I've sewn together triangles that were 1/4" high by 1/2" long. Even using 1/8" seam allowance, I would not be able to sew those tiny pieces together. Plus, you don't have lots of paper to remove when you are done. You just have one pattern section to remove plus you can use that same pattern again and again. I've used a piece from a roll I got at the grocery store, 17 times before it lost it's sticking ability. Before I discovered freezer paper for paper piecing I made a quilt that had seven blocks, all paper pieced and all the same pattern. It took me 1 hour to remove the paper from each block! I thought I'd get faster after the first block, but that didn't happen. If you have a pattern that has many repeated blocks, freezer paper is the way to go, I think.

saeseven: No, you don't need to reverse the pattern. It will turn out the same as regular paper.

This is a bit long but these are tips I've learned from paper piecing w/ freezer paper for over 10 yrs.
Freezer paper (f.p.) shrinks in one direction, enough to make a difference (1/8 - 1/4"). Shrink it by pressing to your ironing board so it sticks. Then spray lightly w/ water or starch. Press until dry. Peel f.p. off, let cool and send thru your printer. I trim away the excess f.p. leaving about 1/4" beyond the outer lines. I use a postcard or a piece of laminated junk mail to fold over all the lines on the pattern. You should split the width of the line in half, when you make that fold. Cut your first piece of fabric larger than you think it needs to be. Some people go 1/2"" bigger on all sides. This first piece can get turned a bit, so it's good to have that extra fabric. Place the #1 fabric wrong side to the shiny side of the f.p., Hold it up to a light source or lay on a lightbox. Do this to check and make sure you have enough fabric to cover that section plus 1/4" seam allowance on all sides. Carefully lay on your pressing surface and tack the center of the section w/ your iron tip. No glue needed. Fold pattern back on seam line #1, trim to give a 1/4" seam allowance. Place your second piece of fabric right sides together w/ the first piece. Lay this down on a flat surface or on a lightbox, to see if your fabric will cover that section. You can see the pattern lines thru the f.p. from the wrong side. Sometimes you need to slide the new piece up or down that seamline to cover. This mainly happens with triangles. Adjust as needed. Pick up carefully and bring to your sewing machine or put in 1 or 2 flowerhead pins. Sew right next to the folded back f.p. as Barbara shows in her video. Then I set the seam by placing the pattern dull side up on my pressing surface. Then I turn the whole thing over, open the seam and finger press the seam open. You can then press carefully with your iron to get that seam flat. The remainder of the shiny side of the f.p. can hang over the edge of your pressing surface so it stays out of the way of your iron.

Another option is to tape the freezer paper to a window and trace pattern by hand. I do this sometimes when tracing a pattern that won’t fit on printer.

Marti

Thank you all the information. I'll check out the link and try that. My inkjet printer must have something wrong with the drum--the lines print zig-zaggedly. It's been doing that for some time which is why we bought a laser printer. If the link fails, I'll find a way to use an inkjet printer at a neighbor's.
Thanks y'all for the help. Quilters are wonderful!

pat2392 wrote:
Just trying to make sure we are communicating. All the houses are wedge shaped. So for example the door is visibly narrower at the bottom than it is at the top. If you think your printer is messing up because the printer is printing out the pattern with the door narrower at the bottom than it is at the top, it is supposed to be that way. Also the bottom and the top of each wedge shaped piece is curved, it is not a straight line.

Just in case that was the misunderstanding.

pat2392 wrote:
This video shows how to print on freezer paper with a laser printer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciBiWqrYeQQ&t=17s

pat2392 wrote:
Pat2392, Never heard of a printer that can't print straight lines? What kind is it? Also, maybe you could print the pattern on your laser and take to a friend to along with your
freezer paper and have them print them for you. HelenW

Uh, oh. After reading the messages, I might be in trouble. My inkjet does not print straight lines; my laser printer does print straight lines. Will this mean I need to trace each of the patterns?

saeseven wrote:
Saeseven. You should NOThave to reverse the pattern for regular paper piecing. I made one yesterday at 60 percent size. I did reverse the pattern for the sample I was trying using raw edge applique but it looks like it would be the same even if I had not since it is simetrical . HelenW