Accuracy and precision have never been my strong suits when it comes to quilting. I’m not entirely sure where that stems from, though if I had to guess, it’s because I have never truly perfected my quarter-inch seam. Since matching points is my number one stressor when sewing pillow covers for my shop, I decided to try foundation paper piecing (FPP) for this one.
I drafted my own 20″ x 20″ template from scratch. The printed lines were a little too thick on this first version, so I already have a refined template in the works—I’ll see if I can figure out how to share it here on the blog once it’s ready!
Here is the finished pillow, along with a few honest lessons I picked up along the way about foundation paper piecing on a larger scale:
What I Learned from a 20″ x 20″ Template
Gentle tearing (and extra reinforcement): While the paper came off easily in most places, I pulled a little too hard in one spot and slightly compromised the seam. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see where I went back in to reinforce that seam. The big-stitch hand quilting certainly adds strength, too, so between that and a little extra reinforcement, this cover should hold up beautifully for years to come.
Taping large templates gets tricky: A 20″ x 20″ paper template is a little cumbersome to wrangle under the machine. I had to tape six separate sheets of printer paper together, and that tape made the paper a tad stubborn to tear away from the back. I was very thankful I had a perforator on hand.
Shorter stitch lengths make all the difference: I learned the hard way that you need a much smaller stitch length for paper piecing so the paper tears away cleanly. I now know I should drop my stitch length down to about 1.5—if you have FPP experience, I’d love to hear your go-to settings in the comments!
Why I’m drawn to this Process
Even with the learning curve, I love the soothing monotony of a foundation paper pieced project. The paper carries all the stress for me, ensuring every line meets up cleanly without me having to overthink my seam allowance.
To finish it off, I backed the cover with some of my favorite remaining blue woven fabric from Fableism’s Swedish Holiday line. Every now and then, a slightly mismatched back satisfies the (very small) side of me that enjoys a little creative risk. 🙂
