It’s not that I am suggesting a particular brand here.  The point is that if you are using a rotary cutter to cut your fabric, having a good set of acrylic templates will make your rotary cutting life much easier.

I remember in my early quilting days, a member in my quilt guild had a husband who had nothing better to do than cut plastic.

He went about cutting all of these great plastic templates for her and for anyone in the guild who wanted them.

His sets were by shape.  You could get several different sizes of half-square triangles as one set.  Then different sizes of quarter-square triangles as another set.  And then there was a set of squares in sizes ranging from 1 inch to 6 inches, and every about 1/2 inch in between.

There is something to be said for having the sets sorted in that fashion.

However, Marti, has given you a complete set by the size of finished patch.  For example, the set shown is for a 3 inch patch (or square).  In the set, you get a square, a half square triangle, a quarter square triangle, and several sub-sets as shown in the diagram here.

The pieces are number coded, so you can tell which template to use for the shape within the patch that you need.

Marti’s template sets come in 3 inches and 4 inches, and she also has acrylic template sets for special quilts – Dresden Plate, Double Wedding Ring, Drunkard’s Path, etc.

The template sets for individual quilts are great – if you want to make the size blocks that she suggests.  However, you can’t make your fabric pieces larger or smaller and still use her templates.

In all, if you are planning to do much quilting, investing in a set of 3 inch and 4 inch templates is a great plan.  Or investing in a set of half-square triangles and a set of quarter-square triangles is great as well.

You will notice that in Marti’s template sets, each piece is either a square (#1, #3, and #5), half-square triangle (#2 and #6), or quarter-square triangle (#4 and #7).

Also, try the Perfect Patchwork Template.