Often I am able to find some nice pattern in one of those big books of quilting designs.Pictured here is a quilting design from "It's Not a Quilt Until It's Quilted" by Shirley Thompson.
She suggests that the design be used in a hexagonal shape, as indicated by the solid lines around the design.
Of course, you can use it wherever you would like on your quilt. In addition, you could use just part of the design.
Once I choose a design, I trace it onto the thin plastic template material, and then cut the plastic around the edges, as shown on the right.
Because this design can easily be cut in half, I traced only half of it, and will trace around the template two times to complete the design.
First, I place the template on my quilt top where I want the design. Then, using a chalk-type pencil or some washable or easily removed marking device, I trace around the template.
Once that is complete, I turn the template around, line up the center with the design I just traced, and complete tracing the other half of the design on my quilt.
Then I am ready to quilt that area. Because I use chalk that wears off easily, I usually do not quilt more than one design, or one area that fits into my hoop.
By using this design in "halves" it is also easy to use this template on a border. Simply place the flatter side on the seam of the border, and have the curly design extend into the border.
The other kind of template I use is one that has cut-outs in the center of the template. I will use the baptist fan design template as an example.
Although this is a template for machine quilting, it serves as a good example of what I am talking about.
This template is a rectangle with curved holes in it. The spaces (holes) are inside the fan shapes.
Lay the template on your quilt and then place your tracing pencil or chalk inside the spaces in the template.
Which style of template you use depends on the quilting design and your preference.
In the first example, you could create a cut-out style template. I find them a little more difficult to work with, since you need to have a relatively sharp marking device to get between the lines. So whenever I can, I use the top style of template.
However, you can see that might be a problem if you were quilting using the second type of design. Since these are lines that repeat themselves, a better template design is one that is cut out. Be sure that there are places that are completely attached, though. Otherwise, you will end up with a big hole that is fan-shaped.
Many quilting machines, come with a wide range of templates that you can use with them. Most hand quilters and machine quilters using a home sewing machine still use plastic or paper templates to trace the design onto their quilt.
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
