While waiting on many fabric orders to arrive to fine tune my fabric selection for the Highland quilt, I pulled out some fabric from my stash, printed out templates, and made a test block. I had originally made a double orange peel block using only traditional quarter circle templates when I made my Orange Peel Chain quilt in 2024, but I wanted to make these blocks larger, and I knew I’d enjoy the process more (and have less waste) if I used individual templates for the pieces in the block. But the only way to confirm that hunch was to test it out.
Test Block – Paper Templates and Fabric Pull
The blocks for the Highland quilt will finish at 10″ square, and I was really delighted to figure out how to get the template pieces I needed printed out on two sheets of paper without needing to tape or splice them together.
Highland Quilt Test Block
The position of the fabrics within the test block was driven by the size of the templates, and I experimented with the direction that I want to press my seams. The block turned out pretty well, but as I was measuring the pieced block, my husband happened to walk into my studio. When he saw my paper templates, he suggested that we try using his 3D printer to make templates. Neither one of us were sure if the surface finish on the outside edge would be smooth enough to run a rotary blade along, but since he was willing to give it a try, I was excited. I guess that means I have more test blocks to sew!
That is such a pretty block! Pretty fun when a test run is a positive one, and templates with a 3D printer? Hadn’t thought of that, so I look forward to hearing how that worked!
Cool block! I never thought of using a 3D printer for templates and am interested in hearing about the result. I’ve done many a paper template and have ended up getting so frustrated because it was hard to be accurate.
I love the block but looks difficult to sew. Anxious to hear results of the test templates.
Cool block; the transparency effect is so you!
Tip: give yourself an extra 1/8″ on the outside edges of the block. This helps to make squaring up and trimming easier and more precise. I’ve used this tip on my snake quilts and other drunkards path-type projects.
Lovely with a great aero dynamic feel to your block
You are so good about testing things out before you get started! I hope the new templates work really well!
That is so different and I can’t wait to see the whole quilt. I’m getting more comfortable sewing curves and this looks like something I’d like to try!
That is a fun block and I love the colors! Ah, the 3D printer is a great idea. It will be fun to see how that works out.
I love this block, and I agree that the transparency effect is SO you! I’m intrigued to hear more about the process of print the templates on the 3-D printer.
That is a cool block!! Oh I am excited to see how a 3Dprinter template will work for you –
That is going to be a very fun quilt. I’ve not been able to master template sewing, it’s why Grandmother’s Choice became Kate’s Choice. Hope the 3 D printed templates worked.
Great techniques and end results. Thank you for sharing.