Designed and Written by Jitka Clement of Jitka Design.
Who loves foundation paper piecing? For some this can be a very scary thought, but with a little bit of knowledge and practice you can create very intricate and detailed pieces of fabric art. So why not try this? For me personally, quilting is a journey of learning and skill development which in the end gives a sense of accomplishment. This is why I chose a bird for the mini of my design month. Birds can symbolize a variety of things in different cultures and context. My tiny bird is a symbol of freedom, representing the ability to soar above challenges and limitations. So, if you have never done foundation paper piecing, now is your chance to challenge yourself.
I put together a step by step for the beak section below:
- Pre-fold pattern piece D (section) on the seam lines for use as a sewing guide. The folds will help line up the seams when adding the next piece of fabric. Lightly glue baste wrong side of background fabric to the wrong side of section D1. Fold paper over on the seam line between D1 and D2. Trim ¼” past the fold of the paper. For ease use an Add a ¼” ruler although standard ruler will work just as well. Align the beak piece of fabric with the edge of the background fabric D1 making sure that the right sides of fabric are facing each other.
- Stitch on the line between D1 and D2 by either locking your stitches in the corner where D2 meets with D3 seam or make a few extra stitches past the corner where the two seams meet. Make sure your machine stitches are set to maximum of 1.5mm for easy paper removal.
- Press slightly over the seam to set your stitches. Then press the beak piece D2 away from the background piece D1 making sure the seam lays away from D1 nice and flat.
- With paper foundation facing up, fold seam between D2 and D3 over. Trim ¼” past the paper fold. This will give you a place to align your last piece of background fabric. Also, when the piece is folded this way, make sure the fabric you add covers that entire area below the folded paper. You can pin the fabric or just hold with your fingers and bring to your sewing machine.
- When working with contrast fabric the darker fabric can create a shadow when the paper is removed. To avoid this, the light fabric should protrude slightly past the previously cut edge as shown in picture 5.
- Unfold the paper and stitch on the seam line between D2 and D3 piece.
- Press the background piece D3 away from the D2 and D1 piece.
- Trim ¼” past the inner line (seam line). If the paper pattern was printed in the correct scale, the outer line would be where you cut the piece. If by any chance the pattern was printed in a smaller or larger scale, use the inner line as your guide and trim ¼” past that line.
- The finished piece will look like picture 9. During this process, trim, stitch, press, and repeat. Always remember that the first piece of fabric will be placed wrong side to the wrong side of paper. After that, it’s always right side of fabric to right side of fabric.
- Complete all your sections.
- Once all your sections are completed, piece them together as specified in the pattern to complete the block.
In addition, if you are a beginner, I highly recommend this two-part tutorial by Cassandra Madge. You can follow the links below for detailed step by step instructions. This really was my favourite tutorial when I was learning about foundation paper piecing. I hope you find it helpful in your journey.
I hope you enjoy this pattern and use the different options to create your very own Tiny Bird.
