Tips for Using your No-Frills™ Rulers & Templates!

To go to a picture and some diagrams, click on the highlighted name of the ruler!

This page is a list of suggestions and tips on how to get the most from your templates/rulers.

Marking your templates

  • Use a sharp object like a metal compass and a ruler to score a line on your acrylic template where you would like a line to be.
  • Use a ‘dremel’ tool to score your lines
  • A linoleum scorer is the absolute best way to mark the templates. The mark looks exactly like a laser etched line. The
  • creator of Omnigrid rulers showed me how to do it and all my templates are marked in this manner – from Heather
  • Use a permanent marker to draw your line
  • Use masking tape/painters tape to temporarily mark your template to suit the current quilt. Write notes on this and then it is easily removed until next time.

 

Circles

  • Use a circle to create the ‘spine’ of a feather wreath. The eye is drawn to the perfectly stitched circle and then you can freehand feather/leaves around it.
  • Using masking tape you can mark a ‘section’ of a curve to repeat in a border/sashing to create a wavy spine for freehand feathers/leaves
  • Using the same as above, use the curve to create scallops on your border to freehand.
  • Remember your spirograph?? Use a circle on a circle and create some wonderful overlapping circle designs

Ovals

  • An oval in the centre of a medallion is great. Freehand feathers/leaves around it and fill in with crosshatching or tiny stippling.
  • Use masking tape again for a shallower curve on the long edge of the oval for longer arcs of a scallop edge or wave etc.
  • The small end of the ovals are often perfect to create the right corner design in your border.
  • Use the smaller ends to create a different shell effect in a border

Baptist Fan templates

 

Baptist fans of course!!

Diamond braid on borders using the straight edges as they are 135°

The larger 7″ & 8″ BF templates have the larger curves ie: = 14″ & 16″ circles

WHOOOO HOOOO!!!! Another use for these templates……

 

Curved & straight radiating LINES!

 

Hearts

 

Naturally hearts are a great base to freehand feathers/leaves around.

Use the ‘bumps’ on top to create a shell pattern

Use the V on the bottoms to get a different crosshatch diamond design in a sashing or small block

Lay the heart on it’s side and you will get an interesting ‘wave’ like (half a heart) design which looks great repeated in a sashing or small border. Use the largest heart on its side in a wider border to create the wave and then freehand feather around it WOW !!

Tri-ruler

 

Great for crosshatching a perfect 45° grid on a block. Line the ruler up with the edges of the block and the long side will be the perfect angle.

Use for crosshatching in a border. Line the long edge up with the border seam and stitch along the 2 shorter sides of the triangle.

Creates greater stability as more to hold on to when stitching diagonal lines

Appliqué & Ditch guide

 

Place your foot in the ‘hole’ section and you now have greater control on all sides of your machine foot for slow ditching around appliqué work.

Use the long side of the ruler for all 1/4″ outlining in any direction. Small easy to manipulate ruler, very versatile.

Serpentine Rulers

 

Create a perfect spine for a freehand feather/leaves vine on a border or sashing. Even better is to create a second spine only 1/4″ from the first to make it really spectacular!

This ruler will allow you to turn a corner perfectly. Use the ruler to DRAW your corner in first, then use it to guide your foot around. Due to the differences in machine feet this ruler was designed so that the ‘drawing’ of the spine would be consistent & perfect and then we can all learn to adjust the stitching to suit our particular machines. Just stitch on the drawn line with the ruler the appropriate distance from the drawn line. Then move your ruler to allow you to continue stitching on this line around the corner.

Ribbon designs can be done easily by stitching the first Serpentine curve then moving your ruler one way by only 1/2″-1″ and repeating the curves overlapping the first. This creates a lovely ribbon effect in any area. Use the ruler to go around a corner as well for this design!

Continuous Curve Rulers

 

To create the perfect curve on a block that only extends 1/4″ from the seam line in the centre of that block is made easy with these rulers. Practice first to learn where to place the ruler depending on the size of your machine’s foot. Easy to flip when you require the reverse curve!

Also simple to create tiny scallops in a 1″ border or sashing.

Longer slim line scallops are great for freehand feathers/leaves

To see the full range of templates available visit the Rulers page