DESIGNINGWITHINTRADITIONALBLOCkS 91
Cutting Fabric with Templates
- Place each template face down on the wrong side
of the fabric; place reverse templates right side up. To
prevent the templates from sliding and slipping on the
fabric when cutting, roll small pieces of masking or
painter’s tape so it has double-stick capability and place
it on the template. - With an appropriate fabric marker, mark dots
through the punched holes onto the fabric. - Using an 18mm (small) rotary cutter and holding it
like a pencil, carefully cut around the template, keeping
the blade next to the edge of the plastic template. Use
a small mat, so you can easily turn your work and cut
comfortably. To prevent shaving your template edge, do
not lift the cutter off the mat until you have completed
cutting each edge. Even if you must stop to rearrange
your hands on a long edge, leave the cutter blade in the
mat. Lifting the cutter up and down is what results in
shaving the template edge.
Rough-Cut Mock-Up and Mirrors
I use mock-ups and mirrors as design tools to compose
my work, piece by piece, and to interview color and
placement in blocks or quilts before the actual cutting
and sewing take place. Creating mock-ups is a creative,
challenging, and exciting opportunity to explore ideas
and compose your quilts without being encumbered by
the sewing process. An important element of making
mock-ups is recognizing that you do not have to be right
the first time; just the last time. You must put some-
thing, anything, down first, and then begin to improve,
compose, change, and follow your heart. It is an oppor-
tunity to explore the “what if” possibilities. What if I
change red to blue, change the light to dark, change the
floral fabric to a stripe?
Cut fabric for mock-ups the actual size without seam
allowance, so you can more accurately evaluate how the
colors and printed fabrics will look cut up and next to
other colors and fabrics. A very small change can make a
great difference.
If the block design is symmetrical, you only need to
mock-up one-half, one-quarter, or one-eighth of the
design and then use the mirrors to see the whole design.
If you’re mocking up a rotary-cut design, determine the
finished size of the shape (grid dimension tells you that,
see pages 14–15) and then cut the shapes. For example,
if the instructions say to cut 11/2 ̋ squares, you will cut
1 ̋ squares for the mock-up. If you need half-square
triangles, cut 1 ̋ squares in half diagonally. Use a rotary
cutter and ruler in these cases. If you’re using templates,
place the template on the fabric, mark dots through the
punched holes, and then scissor cut or rotary cut from
dot to dot. This does not need to be exact work, but
it should be reasonably accurate or you will defeat the
purpose.
Initially I work on a foamcore board covered with
flannel (page 89). When working with larger designs, I
transfer those pieces to the shiny side of freezer paper
and press them into position with a piece of parchment
paper or a pressing cloth. I then use that as my color
map (not a construction map).
Pay attention to when your designs are symmetrical and
take advantage of mock-up and mirrors in your design
process. This is an exciting, challenging, useful, and cre-
ative technique. Explore. Have fun. It’s not always where
we are going or how fast we get there that matters as
much as the road we take.