A Picture Pieced Pattern

Get a jump-start on the next holiday season and make this cute and easy wallhanging to celebrate. This is a freezer paper technique, which uses only straight lines, and has no set-in seams. It looks like foundation piecing but isn't.

I get confused when I foundation piece. Either I flip too much fabric and waste fabric, or I don't have enough fabric and am short fabric. I don't like having to pick out paper from the seams even if I sewed it perfectly. I will foundation piece if it is absolutely necessary, but the Picture Piecing technique has some definite advantages.

Here are some of the differences of Picture Piecing and foundation piecing:

1. In Picture Piecing, you iron to the right side of the fabric, not the wrong side. You see exactly what you get.
2. . In Picture Piecing you sew next to the freezer paper, not through it, so there is no paper to pick out after you are finished. The pattern is not destroyed and can be reused.
3. In Picture Piecing, you can chain piece. Any two pattern pieces that match up can be sewn together. In Foundation piecing, you sew sequentially one pattern piece at a time.

Getting Started
This pattern was designed to be a 9" finished block. It can be enlarged or reduced to any size. Place plastic coated household freezer paper, shiny side down, on top of the full-size Master pattern. You will be able to see through the freezer paper. With a pencil and straight edge trace all lines and notations. For this technique, two patterns are needed. The freezer paper pattern will be cut apart and used as templates. The Master pattern tells you how to sew it back together.

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Fabric Requirements
For the background and the borders you will need about 1/4 yard of fabric, for all other fabrics you can use scraps or no more than 1/8 yard of each.

Make a color chart by cutting a small triangle of fabric for each color used in the pattern. It should look like this:

Prep Work
Cut apart the freezer paper pattern one section at a time on the lines (dotted and solid), keeping the sections separated. Zipper type sandwich bags are handy for this. I like to use a plastic tray lid to let the pieces fall on. Take one of the sections and sort it on the tray by color. For example, all the "W" pattern pieces go into a stack, all of the "R" pattern pieces go into a stack and so on.

Using your color chart as a guide iron the pattern pieces onto the right side of the corresponding fabrics. Use a cotton setting, no steam. A hard ironing surface works best. Leave 1/4" between each pattern piece.

(Figure 1) Here is a good way to gauge the space between two pattern pieces; the width of your finger is about 1/2", so if you place your finger between the two pattern pieces you will have enough seam allowance. You need a 1/4" around each pattern piece. You can clip the corners (points) off of long angular pieces. You only need 1/4" around. Do not measure this, just eyeball it.

After one section is ironed on and cut out, you are ready to sew.

Sewing
Lay out the pattern pieces in a single layer on the tray. You will be referencing the circled numbers for sewing. In Foundation Piecing, you would sew one pattern piece on at a time in sequence. In Picture Piecing, you can sew any two that share a common seam together. For instance, in Section A, pattern piece number 1 and 2 can be sewn together, as well as, numbers 3 and 4, 6 and 7, 8 and 9, and 21 and 22. You can chain piece all the pairs and continue to add to those. The larger the section is the more advantageous chain piecing is.

Work one section at a time. Place two pattern pieces that share a common seam right sides together. Pull back one corner of the pattern piece on top and align the corners of the two freezer papers, as in Figure 2 at right.

Pin the matched pieces in the center and use your fingers to fold the seam allowance back down along the freezer paper. This will give you a line to sew next to (Figure 3 - left). You can also iron the fold back and that will give you a line to sew along.

Use a normal stitch length and sew slightly away from the fold. After sewing the paper should be butted up next to each other. If they are not, do not rip the seam out, just peal off the freezer paper, realign and iron the pattern pieces where they should be (Figure 4 - right). This is the best part of the whole technique. It is better to sew slightly away from the freezer paper rather than try to sew a perfect seam. Iron every seam, trim the edges straight.

We are aligning freezer paper, not seam allowances. So, as long as the freezer paper is next to each other the pattern will not grow. When the project is completed, square the edges up with a rotary cutter.

When pressing sewn seam allowances, let the seam go where it wants. Do not worry about ironing towards the dark. The only time I iron it to a particular side is if it will give me a bigger seam allowance.

Locate all pairs within a section and stitch them first. Then continue to add pattern pieces until the section is completed. The Sections are then sewn together. A detailed assembly follows; however, once you get the hang of it you will not need it. Just chain stitch as much as you can in a section. The finished sections go together just like the pairs. Find two that are the same length and join.

Assembly:

Section A:

Sew 1 to 2, 3 to 4, 6 to 7, 8 to 9, 16 to 17, and 21 to 22.
Join 1, 2 to 3,4.
Join 5 to 1-4.
Add 10 to 8,9, 14 to 12,13, 18 to 16, 17, and 23 to 21, 22.
Join 8-10 to 6,7, add 11.
Join 6-11 to 12-14.
Join 6-14 to 16-18.
Join 6-18 to 1-5, add 19, then 20.
Join 1-20 to 21-23, add 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 (one at a time).

Section B:

Sew 1 to 2, 9 to 10.
Add 3 to 1,2, and 11 to 9,10.
Add 4 to 1-3 and 12 to 9-11.
Add 5 to 1-4, then 6, then 7, then 8.
Join 1-8 to 9-12.

Troubleshooting

1. If there is too much space between the pieces after you have sewn them, remove the freezer paper and realign.
2. If you misplace a piece, simply place store-bought freezer paper (shiny side down) over the Master Pattern and trace that single piece.
3. If your sewn seam goes over the freezer paper slightly, gently tug on both sides of the seam. Usually the paper will release itself. Open the seam from the back to get any paper out.
4. If the small pieces are giving you problems - try sewing two strips of fabric together, iron the pattern pieces on the right side, next to the seam, then cut them out as one piece.

Finishing
Cut and square up your block to 9 1/2" X 9 1/2". With the rotary cutter cut 2 strips of the black border fabric 2 1/2" X 9 1/2" and sew one to the top and bottom. Cut 2 strips 2 1/2" X 13 1/2" and sew to either side.

Add definition to the hat and moustache with two strands black embroidery using a stem stitch. Sew on two black buttons for eyes.

Use clear monofilament thread on top and a cotton thread in the bobbin for machine quilting. Outline the Santa's hat and moustache in the ditch.

©2003 Cynthia England
For more information on Picture Pieced patterns visit Cynthia England's website at: www.englanddesign.com.
She also has a book called "Picture Piecing - Creating Dramatic Pictorial Quilts" which explains how to take your own photographs and turn them into quilts using her technique.

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