Tips for Beginners - Template Techniques
MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES:
A beginning quilter is faced with many choices for standard equipment – cutting mat, rotary cutter, ruler, marking tools. I will mention the ones I prefer and here's a picture of my favorite tools.
Cutting mats: I prefer Olfa or Omnigrid self-healing mats. They must lie flat, and to prevent warping, don’t get your mat too hot and keep it lying flat. Once they’ve warped, they’re ruined, and I managed to ruin mine by taking it in my car on a hot summer day without keeping it flat.
I like to use as big a mat as I have room for. I use the grid for measuring large border strips, but I prefer to combine rulers to cut large block pieces.
Rotary cutter: I prefer the older version, straight handled variety. If you don’t have one, the pink breast cancer model made by Olfa is a good one to buy, and you’ll be contributing to a good cause as well. I prefer this one because I can better see where the blade is cutting, as opposed to the curved handled ones that have more safety mechanisms built in. DO get the in the habit of retracting the blade at every opportunity.
Rulers: A variety of sizes are available, but I use my 6” x 24” the most. There are versions that are 6 ½” x 24”, but I tend to make more wrong cuts because I’ve forgotten about the extra ½”. In addition, I like having a 6” square ruler with extra fine 1/8 inch grid printed in the corner and a 15” square ruler.
Marking tools: Three different ones seem to cover all the bases – 1.) a soft lead pencil, with a sharp point, or use a mechanical .05 mm soft lead pencil, 2.) a fine-tip black ball point pen, (I prefer Zebra made by Pilot because the ink flows readily) and 3.) a Clover white ball-point marker…show a picture of these. NOTE: The ball point pen is used for lines you’ll cut on. It would never be used for quilting lines—they’d never wash out!
Thread: Regular weight (40 or 50 weight) sewing thread . DMC and Aurefil are my favorites, but I also use Mettler, Coat & Clarks, etc., and yes, there are times that I use polyester thread, but I always try to get good quality thread. Depending on what caliber project I’m working on will determine what care I put into the choices along the way.
A quarter-inch sewing foot should be standard equipment in a quilter’s arsenal.
A walking foot: Whether it be a built-in walking foot or an attachment, I like my fabric to feed evenly.
A flat sewing machine surface: This is not absolutely necessary, but it’s so very nice. You must pin much more often if your sewing area isn’t very large. Many models come with a mini-table that snaps on around the arm of the machine, but bigger portable tables are nicer, and can be used at home or at class. (I recommend the Sew Steady Table.) A sewing cabinet is the best, but also the most expensive, and you may not have room for another piece of furniture.
This CATS Template tutorial is much more wordy than the instructions included in your template set, but I’ve tried to cover all possible sewing tips, and all possible questions.
Step 1.) Sandwich fabric right sides together, then draw a line from any corner at a 45 degree angle.
Step 2.) Draw parallel lines spaced according to desired finished size:
Finished size 1” – lines 1 ½” apart
“ 1 ½” –lines 1 7/8” apart
“ 2” – lines 2 ¼” apart
“ 2 ½” – lines 2 5/8” apart
“ 3” – lines a scant 3” apart
Step 3.) Sew ¼” seams on each side of drawn lines using a ¼” foot on your sewing machine.
After seams are sewn is an ideal time to use spray starch if you wish. You will also be setting seams during starching (setting seams helps stabilize by locking the top and bottom threads via heat). I hardly ever do this step! Try it both ways, starching or no starching, and decide what YOU like better. I’d avoid starch if planning to hand quilt.
Step 4.) Cut apart on drawn lines, then place CATS Template with long edge butted against seam, and cut on short sides of triangle.
Helpful Hints: Long fabric strips require cutting alternately from one seam to the other. I have found that it is easier to flip the fabric over in order to keep the cutting angle comfortable.
It’s easy to get the template to lock against the thread with fingers placed more towards the long side of the triangle.
These templates fit in between the two seam lines, so an extra ¼” of fabric extends past the template on each side.
Cutting: I usually start cutting next to the tip of the template and then go forwards a bit and backwards a bit. Yes, I do a bit of cutting away from me and a bit of cutting towards me, but it’s only a few inches! Rotary cutters are rolling cutters, but they don’t roll the same way roller skates roll or a bicycle coasting downhill rolls, so whether I cut away from myself or towards myself, I am in control of the cutting. It’s more important to keep fingers in from the cutting edge side of the ruler or template being used, and to retract the blade whenever possible.
As you cut each finished unit, keep checking to make sure you stay next to the template. “Squaring up” is done as you cut each triangle—sometimes a little extra trimming is required to make up for less than perfect sewing.
RELAX! Remind yourself that the cutting step is the one step that counts. Reasonable accuracy during marking and sewing is all that is required. It’s the most forgiving and carefree method for making accurate triangle squares.
As I developed this technique, I learned that only a gentle downward pressure was needed on the long side of the template as I slid toward the thread, then the template would stop, and I applied a little more downward pressure during the cutting. Trying to forcefully push the template into the thread only caused muscle tension and some mild fabric distortion. So, just lightly push down on the template until the CATS template catches on the seamline, then push straight down more firmly as you are cutting. It doesn’t seem like a row of stitching could hold a template in place, but it really does, and it keeps the template from wanting to shift. Others have suggested applying grippers of various kinds, but anything that raises the template makes seating against the thread more difficult.
Getting ready to sew: Pin the marked fabric together in a few places to keep layers from shifting as you sew, using more pins in larger pieces of fabric. If your sewing machine is recessed into a flat surface sewing table, usually no pinning is necessary.
I prefer to use a walking foot for bias seams. The walking foot also lessens the need for pinning.
I like wearing sticky dot gloves so that only a very light touch is needed to guide the fabric. Avoid pulling fabric or stretching fabric sideways. Bias seams are a necessary part of quiltmaking, and always use a gentle touch when sewing them.
The fact that bias seams are done when the fabric is still in a larger panel is helpful because the bias is less challenged. If you want to cut bias strips instead, it’s a very doable option, but they will slither around more. Starch would help.
I like to start sewing in the middle of the panel of fabric. Try dragging the thread instead of cutting.
If sewing very large pieces, I like to cut on the drawn line after sewing on each side, so that now I have two small, very manageable pieces that more easily fit under the arm of the machine.
Sewing seams: Use average stitch length (about 10—12 stitches per inch) and a ¼” seam. The goal is to have the template just touching the seam on the other side.
Slightly thick ¼” seam causes strips to be slightly narrow. Template will have a few threads across the tip.
Slightly scant ¼” seam causes strips to be slightly too wide. Template must be moved in a few threads from the previous cut to avoid a notch from the corner of the finished unit, however keep in mind that a notched half-square triangle is still usable!
Whether strips are a little narrow or a little wide, they are a-ok! They can be quite narrow or quite wide, but you’ll just waste some fabric or have to do a little extra cutting.
Thread tension: Normal to very slightly loose thread tension, and even top and bobbin tension is the goal.
Dog Ears: It’s easy to cut off those little pesky things. Here’s how I do it: Cut a right angle and take out a very small piece of thread. I don’t use a special tool when I can eyeball it faster. I usually rotary cut, but sometimes I just use scissors. Unit will have right angles on 3 corners.
Pressing: Always treat a bias seam gently! Using my fingernails, either I finger press alone, or finger press then roller press, or finger press and then iron. I have very few tools in my quilting studio, but one I like to use is a rolling presser, similar to a $2 wall paper seam roller. The only time I use an iron to press half-square triangle seams is when the fabric doesn’t respond well to other types of pressing.
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