In her publication, 'The Complete Book of Patchwork, Quilting and Appliqué', Linda Seward notes that accuracy is
the most important aspect of making templates and then using them to mark and cut out your fabric. She notes that
precision at this stage of quiltmaking is more important than at any other stage of the quiltmaking process.
Commercial or handmade templates
Templates can be commercially bought or they can be made from plastic or rigid cardboard. Once cut out each template
should be marked with the name of the design, and the grainline. If the template is an irregular shape then mark which
side is the reverse to avoid problems at the cutting stage.
Linda Seward has a useful tip for prolonging the life of your handmade template, which is to coat the edges of the template
with nail polish.
Cutting out the template
How you cut out the template depends on whether you will be piecing by hand or machine. If piecing by hand the template
should be made without a seam allowance. Then after placing the template on the fabric cut out the seam allowance around
the template. If machine piecing the template itself should include a seam allowance and therefore when cutting the fabric
cut exactly around the template. In both cases the seam allowance is normally a quarter of an inch.