Thanks Margo. This helps to clarify. I'll let you know how it goes.

janie34997 wrote:
Yes Janie the missing seam allowance is where the two are joined for the longer units. If you join the other end of that foundation you need to add that seam allowance or you will come up 1/4" short.



The dotted line at the top of the strips actually show the location of the seam allowance after the gold strip is added when the two completed triangle strips are joined. If you are paper piecing you need to just ignore the dotted line. For your foundation patterns, you just need to add 1/4" seam allowance beyond the dots of the triangles. I have marked the edges in red. For the larger units you join them where I've drawn the blue lines.
(I assume that is why there is no seam allowance there.)



When they are joined they should look like this and should measure exactly 2-3/4" x 16-1/2". If they don't, you are not printing it correctly. Make sure that your printer is set to "no scaling" or "none". Do NOT use the "fit to area" option.

{!-- ia0 -->100_5911.JPG{!-- ia0 -->

I hope this helps.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. In the meantime I have been measuring and researching and discovered that it was the freezer paper. I was using Barb Vlack's freezer paper method, and when the freezer paper is hit with the iron, it shrinks up just a smidge (about 1/8") which equated to the 1/4" over both templates when they are joined. I'm not sure how she overcomes this, so will do more research.....always learning something on this journey!

It is a great idea to practice on scraps before moving on to the real fabric. I pieced two of the strips and I failed to square up the ends where the two join. You will notice in the photo I am short in these areas. I'm not sure my template is right since I was confused between Margo and Annis' instructions. I need to review those again, but the main thing is we have enough fabric to cover the sections, with minimal waste. Correct? My points on the first one did not leave the 1/4" that is needed. The second one is better. Margo, where is the seam allowance missing? Where the two are joined? Could you post a photo that shows where that is? I am using Carol Doak's doundation paper, not the vellum. Since the cut pieces are pretty accurate, it is not as critical to see through as it is with regular paper piecing. What is the dotted line at the top of the strips for? Perhaps we will need them later?

I have used Carol Doak's paper in the past. Worked fine. We have alot of different types of paper in the house. I was searching for her paper to do some piecing. Found what I thought was her paper. It turned out to be newsprint that my husband uses to sketch on sometimes. Texture and color were very similar. I have to feed it in the printer one sheet at a time but in a pinch it works just fine. Will have to give the vellum a try.

Denise

Nigella wrote:
Marie, one of the templates is missing a seam allowance on one side. Could that be where the extra 1/4" might be hiding??

If not, check to see that your one inch measurement is EXACTLY one inch.

I started paper piecing the strips today, because I am a lousy piecer, and discovered that when I joined the templates together they only measured 16 1/4 inches not 16 1/2. I checked the inch measurement and it seemed accurate. Anyone else found this?

Linda, please check out this software for saving things from your computer screen:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Use-Snipping-Tool-to-capture-screen-shots

I use it all the time!

lindabrammer wrote:

Linda,
I used both Margo's and Annis' directions and it came out nice, with very little wasted fabric. Have you done paper piecing before? If so, you'll be fine. If not, just follow their directions and take your time. It looks harder than it is. Once you have the template and the lines drawn on the patterns it goes fairly easy. If you have problems, just let us know....that is what we are all here for ( well, that and looking at everyone's quilts) Erica

Thank you Margo, for these pp instructions. I was so disappointed when I read we needed to make a template for this construction method. I am using my own fabric so I hope I purchased enough to use the paper-pieced method. I was worried about making plastic templates and not looking forward to working on this project. I hope I will be able to print out your instructions from this forum.

I love all the help that Margo and Annis have given me over the years. Not sure if my memory is not good or I didn't read properly, but when I went to Office Depot, I picked up tracing paper. I have to cut it to size which, for me, is not a problem (I have a paper cutter from the days I was making greeting cards). I love how easily you can see thru it and how easily it tears off. I did have problems with my printer and the way I fixed it was to make sure I had a regular piece of paper behind the tracing paper--the printer only takes the tracing paper. Don't know why this makes a difference, but it does.

Thanks for the paper piecing directions. I will have to try it. Still have to wash my fabric from the kit but probably won't do until later this month.

Please stay tuned! ARJJ is working on the issue and will make more fabric available for those who purchased kits. I'll posted memos as soon as they let me know how it's going to work.

BethMI wrote:
Me too!