Rolling On....Freezer Paper Piecing Tutorial....

Here is a little tutorial for piecing the arcs of this wheel with freezer paper....

Once I have made my arcs for each quadrant of the circle and added 1/4 inch seam allowance to the arcs and the outside corner....I transfer each template to freezer paper {drawing on the paper side not the shiny side}....

To my freezer paper arcs I add lines to separate the segments.  Then I score the lines with the back of a seam ripper so that the paper is easier fold.  Just be careful not to press too hard when scoring...you don't want to cut the paper.

    

To prepare, I reduce my stitch length to about 1.7.  By reducing the stitch length I can be confident my stitches won't pull out when I take the paper off.  I get my iron ready....hot iron, no steam.  And the fabric for the segments.  The fabric pieces need to be at least 1/4 inch larger than the segment on each side.  

   

Begin by taking your first fabric and placing it with the wrong side toward the shiny side of the freezer paper.  The straight edge of the fabric can be even with the straight edge of the template {because I have added my seam allowance to my template}.....take this to the ironing board and press on the paper side until the paper  sticks to the fabric.

Fold the paper back at the next line {this will be the line indicating the next fabric}.....

Take this to the cutting mat and lay the acrylic ruler at the edge of the fold with a quarter inch of the ruler laying over the fold....cut a 1/4 inch beyond the fold and this will be your seam allowance.

Take the next fabric and place it - right sides facing - against the first fabric which is still pressed to the freezer paper.....sew a quarter inch seam allowance.  The stitching line will be right next to the fold in the freezer paper.  Do not stitch on the paper - just next to the fold in the paper.  I begin stitching about 1/4 inch before my template and 1/4 inch after the end of the template.    

Finger press the second segment open and then press with a hot, dry iron on the paper side.  Pressing out the second fabric and adhering it to the freezer paper. 

Again, fold on the next line, cut off the excess fabric to leave the 1/4 inch seam allowance and repeat the process with the next fabric.

Continue until you have competely covered the template with each fabric...

Simply trim all around the edges of the template {I have included my 1/4 inch seam allowance in the template so I don't have to add a 1/4 inch beyond the template}

After all arcs for a quadrant is finished you can sew them together following some simple tips for sewing curves....

find the center of the curves and finger press

place the concave piece on top - so you are looking at the concave piece as you sew

pin the center and the ends - and in between if it makes you more comfortable

The outside corner is treated the same way....

With this method you can reuse the freezer paper several times since you are not stitching through the paper.
Hope this helps.....

Now I think I will work on a little quilting :)

happy tuesday!

mary