Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Sampler Update and Why I Hate Paper Piecing (A Rant)

I have been following along with the Splendid Sampler, a sew-along with Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson and Moda Fabrics. It started on Valentine’s Day and will run well into next year. It will contain 100 blocks by 80-some designers, with lots of bonus blocks along the way. Extra blocks are provided so we can either work ourselves to death or to swap out an official block we don’t care for with one we do.

I remember going into this sew-along thinking I would do as Pat suggested. Try it all, she said. Be a good sport, she said. We’ll have tutorials along the way. We’re all in this together! Ok, so there I was, just rarin’ to go.

For the first several blocks, everything was hunky dory. Before I go any further, let me insert a picture here of the 3 most recent blocks I’ve done. They bring my total to 14.  They all turned out well and I had a lot of fun.


There were some blocks with embroidery that I chose to skip. Not because I can’t embroider; I can, and very well thank you. (See some of my old crazy quilted blocks, quilts, etc from earlier years of this blog). But I want to quilt, not embroider. So, I skipped those blocks. No harm done.

And then, last Sunday the first Paper Pieced block was introduced. It is absolutely gorgeous and despite my better judgment, I wanted to try it.

Now, we all know full well that paper piecing was invented by the Devil’s Spawn. But I decided I was going to master the technique and do this block regardless of how many times I’ve tried and failed paper piecing in the past. After all, I thought, it couldn’t be as bad as that other thing - the T word (Tatting) that was invented by the Devil himself. But I digress.

So, I chose my fabrics, carefully measured and cut and read the scanty directions. I even watched a couple tutorials on You Tube (because my buddy Pat failed me in that regard, bless her heart). And speaking of those tutorials, why on earth would anyone teach paper piecing using the Economy Block as an example? You can do that block easier and better without paper piecing!!! But I digress again.

I went to my sewing machine with high hopes. Thirty minutes later I was in tears, a ranting, raving lunatic. What a disgraceful mess! That pile of scraps under the scissors might or might not have been shredded to bits by, um... someone.


Needless to say I have, since this picture, put away the surviving scraps and scissors. The rest has been thrown away after being gustily cut or torn to bits. Thank goodness the Quilting Police aren’t involved in the Splendid Sampler.

I will never try paper piecing again. My brain isn’t wired for such nonsense. It’s bass ackwards. It’s stupid and dumb and f*ing frustrating; (you can insert that f-word that our moms would’ve washed out our mouths for). Seriously? We can’t find a better way to piece than using paper backwards? And what about not using our sewing scissors for paper? I don’t even want to go there!

A better use for paper piecing would be at Guantanamo. We could just make terrorists do some paper piecing - they’d give up all their secrets in a heartbeat if faced with it. Trust me.

And just in case the message wasn’t clear in all the above diatribe wasn’t clear; I HATE PAPER PIECING!!

Hugs,
Cathy maroon

7 comments:

  1. Oh dear. I do feel for you, truly I do. But (and I seriously hesitate to say this) I like paper piecing. I know - I'm ducking and running now.....

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  2. I never tried paper piecing (unless hexies are part of PP). I don't think I would like it either, but it doesn't matter I know I will never do it. I usually never say never as in the past I have learned that lesson well. But I am confident...I will never PP.

    Glad you are moving on to more pleasurable stitching!
    xx, Carol

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  3. I actually like paper piecing -- doing Sylvia's Bridal Sampler and Dear Jane will do that to you. I got my block together, but cut my fabric pieces bigger than she said. I have more fabric than patience.

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  4. Oh no! I love paper piecing! There must have been something not right about the directions or fabric sizes. It should never be that hard. I'll be teaching a paper piecing class coming up here in April and May. I'll be doing the party hats I've been showing on Instagram. I know PP is a terrible thing to you, but maybe I can help!

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  5. I only do paper piecing under protest and end up wasting a lot of fabric just to keep my frustration level down. It helped that a woman in my quilt chapter demonstrated a pineapple block which gave me a better sense of the rhythm (sew, iron, fold back paper, measure quarter inch seam, trim, align next piece, sew, iron, fold back paper, measure quarter inch seam, trim etc.).

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  6. Hah! I hate PP too. I was going to do a rant post later in the week on my latest PP experience. I had to make a birthday block for a b'day group I'm in and the darned lady requested a PP block. And then the Old MacDonald sampler at Block Lotto this month needs PP blocks. AND I was going to make a cute baby quilt and that darned thing needs PP - just a little.

    So, we are on the same wavelength!

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  7. It seems people either love or hate PP. I have sworn never to try it. I look at those gorgeous quilts that win prizes and were never attempted by sane quilters in the past. I do not want to think backwards and upside down, not counting the waste of time and excess fabric. I will stick to my rail fences, 16-patch and other sane endeavors. My mind is challenged enough, thank you.

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