Making a Template and cutting fabric:
You don’t need rotary cutting equipment to cut out this block (although it is a much faster method). Learn how to make a template and use it for cutting out fabric with scissors.
This a great way to teach students how to measure and use graph paper for making patterns.
Video Transcript: Page 1
ELEMENTARY (Quilt-As-You-Go) QUILT – Using a Template to Cut Fabric (6 of 16 videos) Page 1
If you want to use a template to cut out your fabric, you are going to need two different templates. You are going to need one 6 inch square to cut your batting pieces out. And then you are going to need one 7 inch square to cut your fabric pieces out.
So you can just take regular cardboard and draw out a 6 inch square or 7” square and cut it. Or what I like to do is- I like to take graph paper, draw out my square on the graph paper, where I know that it’s pretty accurate. Then take that graph paper and with a glue stick, glue the back of this paper and glue it on to the cardboard. After I have glued it onto the cardboard, then I cut it out.
Or you can go to LearnHowToQuilt.com and I have, under Quilt Classes- Elementary Quilt. There are templates-paper templates- that you can download if you have a printer. Print them up and then glue those onto the cardboard. That is probably the easiest, and then you don’t have to draw anything. So that’s how you make those templates.
Now I am ready to cut out a 7 inch square of fabric, using a template. Whenever I use a template, I like to make sure that my fabric has been pressed and I also like to wash my fabric before cutting. So when you use a template, instead of cutting on the front side of the fabric, or the right side of the fabric, I like to go to the wrong side of the fabric. I take my template, I turn it upside down. On a square it really doesn’t make a difference, but on some templates because they are not mirror image shapes, it will make a difference if you are cutting on the back, so get in the habit of doing that.
I just take my pencil and I go around the outside of the fabric. I have one already traced, I move over to here and I am ready to trace the second one. So as you can see, if I try to make the mark really dark, my fabric moves. It’s much easier if I lightly use my pencil to mark around. And I like to go around a couple times marking like that. You get a thick enough line that you can see- I am hoping that the camera or your computer can pick this up. Just be careful
Video Transcript: Page 2
Ir computer can pick this up. Just be careful when you go around it that you don’t go really hard.
Now my husband has made this board with sand paper, a long time ago. He just glued a piece of fine sand paper and it is a great tool for helping you keep that fabric nice so that it doesn’t move. So I am going to put my template back on here. Notice, if I am pushing really hard with my pencil, the fabric doesn’t move because the sandpaper grips it. So that’s how you trace around your template.
The next step is to get your scissors. When you cut this, you want to cut on the inside of this line and you want to cut that line off. So you just go around cutting, and I am not going to cut the whole thing off, I am just going to show you that you want this pencil line cut off because that is an extra thickness when you had this template down. That line is on the outside edge- this template is the exact size of that square- so you cut that off.
Now, let’s say that you- boy you’re saying I need so many of these squares- so if you want to, you can draw your square and fold your fabric. I don’t like to fold it more than maybe 2 or 3 times. Then, I put pins in here to cut all the way around.