Paper Piecing Helpers - Add Enough!

Quilters who say they don't like to paper piece often give "too much wasted fabric" as their reason. And it's true that when you're foundation (paper) piecing, it's sometimes difficult to figure out how large to cut fabric patches. They need to be big enough to cover the entire area shown on the foundation, but trickier still is the amount needed to cover the seam allowances fully. You can just go ahead and cut honking big fabric patches as an insurance policy, but they can get hard to handle and that's where the wasted fabric comes in.

We've got a solution. The Add-Enough tool helps you know just what size to cut those patches, even if the quilt pattern you're using doesn't specify, which many do not. Let's say you want to know what size to cut fabric for area 3 on this unit:

All you have to do is position the Add-Enough tool on the foundation, lining up the bottom line of the tool with the bottom line of the area for which you want to cut fabric. Adjust the Add-Enough to the right until the right line lines up with the edge of that same patch. Then follow the directions on the tool to determine the correct size fabric rectangle to cut. Easy peasy and a minimum of fabric waste!

We have a complete Add-Enough tutorial available to download for easy reference. And Add-Enough tools are available for purchase here. Treat yourself to this inexpensive little secret weapon and make paper piecing easier than ever before!

Have you used the Add-Enough tool in your quilting? If so, we'd love to hear what you think in the comments below!