The word template used to send a shiver down my spine. Who wants all of that fuss and muss?! Any fussy cutting. Forget it! Then Lauren and I got our hands on Elizabeth Hartman’s Patchwork City for Lauren’s book review and I just had to give it a try. Elizabeth goes into more detail in her book, but here is a little taste to get you started!
Gather your materials –
Small scale prints work best but some larger prints can be worked in. This is a great stash buster. I picked a couple of pieces to fussy cut.
You will also need freezer paper, a pencil, an erasable pen, and your basic quilty tools.
Find your pattern piece for the block you are working on and trace it onto the tracing paper. The shiny side should be down and you will make your marks on the matte side.
Cut your pieces out with paper scissors and press the template with a hot iron onto the right side of your fabric, shiny side down. The shiny film will gently adhere the template to your fabric.
The template does not include your 1/4 inch seam allowance. Using your quilt ruler, add 1/4 inch like shown and cut out your fabric with the template in place.
Using your erasable pen (I like Frixion pens, she uses water soluble markers) mark a point at each corner of your template onto the fabric.
After you have your points marked you can remove the freezer paper. Don’t throw it away! They will still stick after a few more uses!
Line up the dots as instructed in the pattern and stitch a 1/4 inch seam. Press and continue like you normally do when constructing a quilt block.
This is the finished result of half of her Duplex block (page 36). The roof is perfect thanks to the freezer paper templates. I fussy cut the little chef for the bottom half of the block.
Perfect piecing! Yeah!
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