Basting English Paper Piecing With Starch

Missie's Technique of Basting English Paper Piecing with Starch!

If you've looked at my blog posts much, you know that I love English Paper Piecing, and as time has passed, I've gone from not being able to do English Paper Piecing at all because I can't thread baste and enjoy any of it...to using glue stick...to now using Starch to prep my English Paper Piecing!

I now have a book about this technique for English Paper Piecing.  You may purchase it HERE.  The book will answer questions that come up and help you get perfect results.  It's like a workshop experience with me to answer questions that have come up repeatedly when I teach the starch basting technique for EPP!

My technique uses Traditional Primitives Premium Freezer paper and Premium Quilting Starch along with the Fingertip Stiletto and Starch Brush to baste the shapes!  No long process of basting with needle and thread for me!

As I have developed this technique for basting English Paper Piecing, I have learned that the paper and other notions I offer work much better than others.  I offer all of these items on my website should you not find them in your local quilt store. These exact notions REALLY make a difference!  Over the past few years, I've used other brands and have come to see the beauty in using quality products to make things easy and better for the process.  The brands of supplies that I feel are the best to use are as follows:  

Notions from Traditional Primitives-

Missie's Favorite Starch Brush

Missie's Fingertip Stiletto
Ultimate Freezer Paper

Premium Quilting Starch
And the basic Clover Mini Iron

Where to get the shapes?  All of my patterns that require the English Paper Piecing technique have the templates included in the pattern, ready to copy and cut apart.  If you are choosing to do a traditional English Paper Pieced quilt and don't want to cut them yourself, you will find Hexie Cutters on my website!  Just double the paper and punch out the shapes!  My patterns and supplies are found on my web site, www.traditionalprimitives.com.   Feel free to tell your local quilt store about me and ask them to take a look, then contact me for wholesale information.

To make these shapes, run one piece of Ultimate Freezer Paper through the printer to copy or print your shape, whatever the shape may be.  It is important to use my Premium Freezer Paper if you intend to use the same pieces over and over.  It does not shrink like other freezer papers and a few papers can be used over and over!  You do not need a new piece for each shape!  Two sheets doubled will make the corners and points stiff enough to prevent bending, which helps make perfect shapes for a perfect quilt.  Layer two pieces of freezer paper shiny sides down on an applique pressing sheet and iron together with no steam.   Cut out the shape on the line as accurately as possible.  You can also run the doubled paper through a die cutter or use a punch to cut your shapes.
Iron the shiny waxy side of the shape to the wrong side of the fabric, trim 1/4" around the paper edge and paint with starch on an ironing surface using the Starch Brush.  

 Try to keep the starch off of the paper and mostly on the seam allowance.   Use the mini iron tip to go under the seam allowance and flip the seam over and on top of the paper and iron until dry. While holding the iron in place to dry the fabric, keep the iron tip only on the paper.  Do not let it get out into the seam allowance.  The seam allowances need to stay wet until they are flipped over onto the paper to dry.

 

Continue around all sides, ironing to dry the seam allowances, keeping the iron only on the paper as you go around the shape.

When you are ready to remove the papers grab a corner and simply pull the paper off of the fabric.  When the paper is new, the wax sticks very well and you may need to tug slightly to pull it out of the shape.  As you use the papers more, the wax continues to stick but not so firmly so it is easier to pull away from the fabric.  It can be used over and over until the paper is too week to feel with the iron.  I've used my shapes up to 20 or more times before having to replace them!  This means you really don't have to cut too many pieces out of the paper IF you use my Premium Freezer Paper.

 

 After the pieces are basted with starch, you can sew them together with or without the papers in place!  Traditionally, English Paper Piecing is sewn with the papers inside the shapes, but by doing the basting with starch you may have the freedom to remove the papers if you'd like to!  This makes it much easier to sew some shapes together.  

 I find that by basting with starch, the pieces are much more accurate which makes a more accurate pieced block and overall quilt.  I hope you will give this a try!  Making difficult blocks are NO BIG DEAL when using the starch method!!

  

Give it a try...I think you will be glad you did!!

Be sure to let me know if you have any questions.  I will be happy to help you.