Craft Corner | Foundation Paper Piercing

Written by: Newberg resident craft corner columnist Angela Draz.

Welcome back! I hope y’all had a nice holiday season. 

I got to thinking over the holidays where I want to take you on this trip into quilting land. As I show you different skills, I’ll present them in a small project like these mug rugs, so you can complete the project fairly quickly to use or gift. Let me know what other quilting projects you may want to try! 

This month’s technique is foundation paper piecing (FPP). FPP involves sewing fabric to paper or to another “foundation” such as a lighter fabric like muslin. It generally involves a lighter weight paper such as newsprint or magazine pages. There are other paper-like products used in FPP like freezer paper or a wash out foundation product.

For this project, we’ll use printer paper. If you don’t have a printer to print out the pattern, you can use the measurements on the electronic pattern to draw the pattern onto paper with a ruler and pencil.

For a video introduction to FPP, Angela Walters explains how to FPP in a short video here. https://youtu.be/t7Kx4Q7JSwQ?si=wPZPqQNFw9STB4uB

FPP Tips and tricks:

1. There is a lot of ironing with FPP, so if you use steam when you iron, turn this feature off.
2. Set your stitch length short. When sewing fabric to paper, you want it almost perforated so tearing the paper at the end of the project is easier. If you use a stitch length of 2-2.5 reduce it to 1-1.5.
3. When you place your fabric for each section, check and double check it’s going to cover after stitching before you stitch. It is possible to rip a seam with a short stitch length, but you generally only get one time before there is no paper to stitch the fabric to.

February Mug Rug #1

For the single sheet mug rug project, which finishes at 7”, you will need:

• 1 printout or drawn pattern (download HERE)
• Background fabric (#1, #3, #5, #7, #8)
• 2 – 4” squares. cut one of these squares in half diagonally corner to corner
• 1 – 5” square cut in half diagonally corner to corner
• Heart fabric (#2, #4, #6)
• 1 – 4” square cut in half diagonally corner to corner
• 1 – 7” x 9” rectangle
• Batting – 7.5” square
• Backing – 7.5” square

February Mug Rug #2

For the two sheet mug rug project, which finishes at 8”, you will need:

• 1 printout of each side of the pattern or two drawn patterns of each side (side 1 HERE, side 2 HERE)
• Background fabric (#1/#1b, #5/#5b, #6/#6b)
• 4 – 3.5” x 2.5” rectangles
• 1 – 5” square cut in half diagonally corner to corner
• Heart fabrics – I used three different fabrics and repeated them for each side.
• 2 – 3” x 9” rectangles (#2 & #2b) – red with black crackle outer
• 2 – 4” x 9” rectangles (#3 & #3b) – mid red center
• 2 – 3” x 9” rectangles (#4 & #4b) – dark red inner
• Batting – 8.5” square
• Backing – 8.5” square

Sewing Instructions:

With any FPP project, the sewing is done on the lined side of the paper. The design is a mirror image of the printed side of the paper. A sewing light, window, or lightbox helps to see the printed lines when placing the fabric on the area to be sewn. 

1. Take the fabric piece for #1 and #2 and flip the pattern piece to the blank side.
2. Looking through the paper at a light to see the printed lines, place #1 fabric right side up (facing you) so it covers the entire #1 space with 1/4” overhang all the way around. Pin in place if you need. 
3. Place #2 piece over the space for #2 right side up to make sure it has a generous 1/4” on all sides. Now carefully flip it onto space #1, right sides together, so you have a 1/4” overlap into #2 space. Move the pin, if you used it above, to pin both pieces to the paper.
4. Carefully flip the pattern over to the printed side, put under the machine and line up the line between #1 & #2 a couple stitches before the line. Stitch and make sure to go a couple stitches past the line into the adjacent space. This will lock the pieces together as you sew them to the paper.
5. Take the pattern to the cutting mat. With print side up, fold the paper, on the line you just sewed, toward #1 space to reveal the fabric underneath sticking into the #2 space. Take a ruler and align the 1/4” on the paper fold and cut the fabric a 1/4”. Unfold the paper. 
6. Flip the pattern piece over to the fabric side and iron the fabric over to space #2. You should now have #1 & #2 spaces covered with fabric right sides facing out.
7. Take the pattern to the cutting mat again. With printed side up, fold the paper on the line between #2 & #3 towards #2 and align the ruler on the fold and cut the fabric to 1/4”. Unfold the paper.
8. Flip the pattern to the fabric side, take the fabric for #3 and make sure it fits its space right side up. Carefully flip it right side toward the #2 fabric and line it on the edge you cut in the step above. Pin if needed. Flip pattern to the printed side and sew on the line between #2 & #3. 
9. Continue: iron the piece into the space, fold the paper back on the next number line, cut the fabric back a 1/4”, place the new piece, sew for all the numbers in the pattern piece. 
10. When all the pieces are sewn, take the pattern to the cutting board and trim all the way around on the outer most line.
    
    If you are doing the heart in two pieces, complete both pieces as noted above before moving onto the final steps in piecing. 
    
11. With the two pieces complete, put a pin through both corners on either end of the project. This makes sure the ends are aligned. Make sure the fold that makes the heart is aligned. Put a pin along the sew line through both pieces. Make sure the pin is on the line through both pieces. 
12. Take to project to the sewing machine and sew the two pieces together on the center line. Iron the middle seam open. 
13. When finished with the pattern, trim all the way around on the outer most line.

Do NOT remove the paper just yet. The paper helps stabilize the project until the open edges are sewn to something. You are now ready to assemble the mug rug! 

To assemble the mug rug:

1. Place the batting piece on a table.
2. Center the backing right side up on the batting piece.
3. Center the completed pattern face down (printed side facing up) on top and pin through all layers to keep them together 
4. Sew around the the pattern 1/4” in, leaving a 2”-3” opening on one side to flip it after removing the papers.
5. Remove the papers using a seam ripper point, pick, tweezers. Clip the corners to remove bulk.
6. Find the opening between the back and the top and flip the project right side out, poke out the corners, square up the project, and iron flat. Now you can use steam if you desire. Make sure the opening flaps are ironed in.
7. Stitch around the entire edge of the project 1/8”, which will close the opening. Quilt as desired or leave unquilted.