Ahhh...Paper Piecing! Wow! You are bringing back memories!
Paper Piecing was very popular about ten years ago in scrapbooking. Just about every layout that was published had some sort of pp on it. Bears, bunnies, etc. were the main focus.
In fact, it was a bear pp that landed me a job as a contributing editor for a scrapbooking magazine. ;) Those were the days....
Ok, back then, before Windows in Time came out with a pattern book, we used tole painting books, coloring books, clip art, etc. We'd cut out each piece, (sometimes needing a few copies of the original pattern) that would be it's own cardstock color or patterned paper.
Then, we'd cut out the cardstock/paper and piece together our finished product. I've added a photo of a doll pp. This was from a tole painting book. (Keep in mind, this layout is 12 years old!)
Paper dolls soon came out, since they are so similar to pp. Then, pattern books came out, punch art books...the rest is history.
With the Cricut and such, pp is starting to make a comeback! I'm thrilled!
HTH,
Stephanie