Paper Piecing Tutorial ~ Arkansas Snowflake Block

Arkansas Snowflake Paper Piecing Block Tutorial

Welcome back to my weekly paper piecing project. Today I hope to offer a few more tips that may help inspire some and educate others. Paper piecing really isn’t all that difficult once you know the tricks. We’re going to complete a simple block this week with the Arkansas Snowflake block.

You’re going to start by printing out the number of pages of templates you need to complete your block. For my example, all the pieces fit on one page.

Print your pattern on Foundation Paper. It rips away from your sewn block without ripping out your precious stitches!

Cut your pieces apart (using paper scissors, ladies!). In my example, I have 4 identical pieces.

Select your fabric. I’m using a Bonnie & Camille black print from the Handmade line as my background and two complementing prints for the snowflake part of my block.

Starting with one of the paper patterns, lay your pattern right-side-up and your fabric wrong-side-up. Hold it up to a light to ensure that the fabric is covering the entire space necessary on your pattern.

I’m using an Add-A-Quarter ruler. The ruler adds a 1/4″ to your pattern when you line it up along the solid lines. Your patterns will always have the numbers in the order that you’ll need to sew. To start, line your Add-A-Quarter ruler up on the line between #1 and #2. Draw a line on the 1/4″ mark within #2 section.

Add-A-Quarter Ruler Steps

In the image above, you’ll see the steps to creating your first cuts which are necessary to start the sewing process. You’ll need some kind of harder cardboard to fold your paper over onto. Then, the ruler has a lip that’ll butt against the cardboard and you’ll cut against the ruler, automatically creating a 1/4″!

Refer to last week’s tutorial if you need a reminder on the process from here. I promise, once you do two blocks, you’ll get the hang of it and understand it better. You get such perfect points and pretty blocks using the foundation paper piecing method ~ I hope you give it a try!!

Come back next week for the next block in the series!