Because I have two quilts to mark for quilting (both Meringue and its bonus quilt, Garden Peony), and because I seem to be marking quilting lines that use standard quarter circle sizes a lot lately, I decided that it was time to make some longer lasting polycarbonate templates to help me mark quilting lines. As you may remember, I created quarter circle and oblong templates using cardboard when I was marking the lines for Sequenced, the Sesen bonus quilt. The cardboard templates worked for that quilt top but were not something that would hold up well to repeated use.
Quilting Templates on Thin Polycarbonate
So my husband pulled out some thin polycarbonate that he had in his workshop and I printed out templates that I could cut out from the polycarbonate. The polycarbonate I’m using is only 0.03″ thick, and you can find sheets of it for sale through McMaster-Carr. The benefit of the thinness is that I was able to use scissors to cut the templates I wanted. Even though the polycarbonate is relatively thin, I did take my time and take breaks to give my hand a rest.
Cut Quilting Templates
I created quarter circle templates that range from 1″ in radius up to 8″ in radius. Once I had the templates created, I spent a day marking the quilting lines on the Meringue quilt top using my Hera marker following my finalized quilting plan. Note: I didn’t need all of the templates to mark Meringue, but the ones I didn’t use for this quilt will be used when I am ready to mark Garden Peony.
Marked Quilting Lines
As you can see in the photo above, I marked a bit too far on one of the background lines and marked across the echo curves, but that isn’t a problem. Once the quilting is finished, I’ll be able to lightly mist that section and press out the marked line. The grid lines inside the curve stars are marked every 1/2″ and the background quilting grid is currently marked every 1″.
Meringue Quilting Progress
I’ve been making good progress on the quilting. There are a lot of thread to bury, but it’s nice to sit at my machine for a few hours each day and see the quilting come to life. I’m loving the texture!
Today is the last day you can sign up to participate in the 2022 Summer Quilt Along and get a $5 discount by using the code QUILTINGJETGIRL at checkout. You can visit my blog post to read more about the 2022 Summer Quilt Along, or, if you are ready to join in, you can purchase the quilt along here.
That a good idea for making templates! I’m always impressed on how beautiful all this texture looks on your quilts.
The quilting looks marvelous! The curves on the dark orange peel segments are particularly interesting in how they intersect. It has sort of an aeronautic look. It resembles diagrams I’ve seen showing how wind goes over and under an airplane’s wings; it’s a very interesting effect. Do you mind telling us what size stitch you’re using on this piece?
I don’t envy you all the thread burying; been there, done that! What’s your burying technique please? (If you’ve told us previously just ignore me). I like to use a medium large embroidery needle with a large eye, it’s a lot easier as my vision isn’t what it used to be. I pull the threads to the top as I quilt, snip them long enough to make a knot about a 1/4 inch from the last stitch, then thread the needle and slip it between the layers. If the large needle leaves a tiny hole, I find that some gentle scraping with a fingernail closes it right up. Depending upon the design, sometimes I do the burying as I go and sometimes all at the end. This works well for me but if you have any ideas for improvement, I’d be quite grateful to hear them. Thanks Yvonne!
Thank you. I think the intersecting lines in the orange peel segments look like ripples on water, but you are right that they also look like Schlieren Photos of wind tunnel experiments: https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=schlieren%20photography.
I use a side threading needle to help me bury threads. I started using them about a year ago. I use these (non-affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TAO1GZU/
I also like to bury as I go. For this quilt, I am quilting lines in one direction (all the vertical lines in a star or one set of curves in the orange peel) and then burying before rotating the quilt and going in the other direction.
It’s looking SO good! I actually used some template plastic last week to make a template for cutting my current project. I like your idea of using them to mark the quilting lines too!
Great idea to make the templates! It does make things so much easier when we have the right tools. Love the way it is looking and glad you are enjoying the process of quilting it!
The quilting looks so good! Do the polycarbonate sheets go through your printer?
Thank you. Interesting question. No, I don’t think that this particular sheet would go through my printer; I’m pretty sure it’s too thick for it to want to “pick up” and feed it.
They look like ripples on water to me too. Sounds like you have a new product in development that we all could use!
The quilting looks great! It’s always a challenge to decide at what point is something going to be used enough to either buy or make a more lasting solution.
Fabulous idea, Yvonne. I have been wanting to quilt the Baptist Fan design but if the spacing wasn’t near perfect, it would drive me nuts. I’ve tried a few time with Ponce marking chalk but it always rubbed away before I finished the quilt top. This might just be the ticket I was looking for. Thank you so much for the suggestions, and why on earth have I not been following you, I ask myself. {{Hugs}} again. ~smile~ Roseanne