A Word About Pinning________
for Paper Piecing and Machine Curved Piecing

     Have any trouble with "growing" blocks or matching points? The secret is in the pinning. The pinning method below works well for both curved piecing and paper piecing (when pinning along the paper to join sections). Good pinning ensures accuracy when matching points or the beginnings and endings of seams.

1st...get pins parallel Pin through the beginnings and ends of the seamlines you will be sewing. Also add any pins that join match points (the facing arrowheads on Paper Panache patterns, or the hatch marks in machine curved piecing).    The drawings at left look down between the two pieces of fabric from above. The pins in the top drawing are incorrect because their shafts are not parallel to each other and the pieces of fabric are slipping in opposite directions. Slide the fabric around minutely until pins line up parallel like in the second drawing. Leave pins hanging and press the pieces together with your fingers. Turn the seamline back to face you.

2nd...secure the pins Leave the parallel pins from the step above pushed all the way through and hanging out the back until you get to them. The pins you will add now will be secured horizontally, joining the pencil lines on the front and back together. If you are paper piecing with Paper Panache patterns, you would be running the pins next to the paper edges. Working from left to right: (Pin #1) Secure a pin along the pencil line immediately to the right of the beginning pin. (Pin #2) Secure the beginning pin vertically. (Pin #3) Secure pins along the line (as many as needed), each one to the right of its neighbor, until you reach a match point or the end of the seam. I usually pin close enough so they are almost head-to-tail. (The longer and straighter the seam is, you can put more space between them.) (Pin #4) Secure any match point pins vertically. If this were a longer seam, continue pinning to right. (Pin #5) Secure the last pin horizontally along the seam line. The seam is ready for sewing.    When you sew the seam, sew slowly from edge to edge immediately next to the paper pattern. Do not pull the pins out early-- as the needle gets to the sharp end of each pin, hold the head of that pin up lightly and the fabric will feed right off the pin as you sew, helping to keep the seam exactly as you have pinned it.