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Using Templates in Crazy QuiltingSharon Boggon © 2007 |
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I am often asked "How do you keep your stitches straight?" To be
honest I must admit that I often 'eye ball it' but also being
equally honest this means my stitches are not straight! It's a mood
thing sometimes I stitch with the flow and sometimes I take more care.
Apart from practice there is no great trick to it as I simply mark my
work with a pen that will disappear. I use a selection of pens and
pencils designed for quilters and needleworkers, which can be found in
stores that specialize in needlework and quilting.
Using these templates I simply mark the seam with a dot at regular intervals and then follow the dots. The dots can be the top of the stitching line as for instance in a line of herringbone or they can be the side of the seam such as in a line of Cretan stitch, or the dots may act as guides for a line of buttonhole. I have also used Carole Samples Dream-a-seam templates for crazy quilting. The Dream-a-seam templates are a collection of 99 edges for pre-marking seams and motifs in crazy quilting projects. Carole Samples has developed a whole system for using these templates and developing variations. They are a very useful tool as each edge can also be combined with any other edge that as a combination can be duplicated, flipped and repeated. More than two templates can be used together, which makes the number of available combinations endless.
I started out cutting my own shapes from the lids of takeaway containers. Here in OZ they are usually clear plastic and you can cut them out with scissors. I discovered there are many plastics used in packaging that can be used and I have been told X-rays work well too. The main thing is that you can cut the plastic with scissors. I started off with simple shapes such as fans and the like. Then I discovered quilter's plastic.** In Australia quilters plastic comes in sheets 47.5 x 32 cms or for an approximate conversion 19 x 12.5 inches. They retail at about $3.00 (Australian). So it is not an expensive product to experiment with. It is simple to use and I have found since lashing out and spending $3.00 I have been developing more complex template shapes that can be used as motifs in crazy quilting. I have included some paisley shapes in different sizes that can be printed out. All you have to do is lay the quilters plastic over the top of a print out, trace around the shape using a felt tip pen and then cut it out. You now have a template for the shape that can be used over and over. These can simply be traced around and you are ready to stitch the motif.
**Editor's Note: Shrink Plastic without shrinking the shapes works well, is sometimes less expensive and available in craft stores in the USA. Sharon B of inaminuteago |
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