you might measure your templates cause sometimes these things dont always print out exactly right

i made some storm at sea placemats once and one section of it i cound never get to measure out right,I ripped, I resewed and I ripped some more finally i checked the templates and sure enough they measured too small and of course I had already cut out all my pieces and it was one of the few times I didnt buy extra fabric.

They look great flying V.

Keep up the good work.

Kyia

Your blocks are beautiful! I've never gotten that many points to come together so perfectly! I'm impressed.

I'm with the others on the scant ¼". I just try to get a couple of threads closer to the edge and it seems to work pretty well. I'm surprised the one that you pressed with the seams open didn't come out a little larger though. I've heard that pressing to one side is the reason we have to go to a scant to make the blocks come out the right size.

Hope you get it worked out Flying_V because it's sure going to be beautiful when you're done!!

Lin was right, those are Perfect Points!!!!!! You should be proud of that! Hey, why don't you just call the hardware store and ask about how much the plexiglass would cost before you dismiss it, they might even have some scraps of it or something, you never know! Also, you can buy template sheets at Walmart or a quilt store very cheap, have you checked that out yet? Good luck your doing a great job!

This happens to me when I do woodworking - with wood, it's called kerfing, from the width of the saw blade. Your mark from the template will always be off by the width of the marker you use. Even if you cut and sew directly from your mark, it starts a whisker off. Multiply this by the number of parts you have used templates for, and over the width of a quilt you can be off a couple inches.

Strip cutting allows you to cut with only a margin of error equivalent to a razor edge. I would figure out the size squares I need to cut in half to produce 2 triangles at a time. I think for the long haul, it would be easier than trying to guess how many thread-widths you need to be over from your 1/4"

I've heard that many hospitals will give away xray sheets, and they make great templates. You can even see through them if you want to fussy cut!

Flying_V, do you use a rotary cutter and mat?

I think Lowe's cuts plexi glass for free, but I can't say for sure. Our Lowe's has the poorest customer service. I bought one of the knives to cut the stuff myself (I have not cut it or done anything with it, yet). That's what I bought it for, quilt templates. It really wasn't expensive. I can't remember how much it was bc I've had it a while. I think one 8 x 10 piece was around $2. The larger the size, the more it costs...BUT if they will cut it for free, you might be better off (and save money) having a larger piece cut into smaller pieces...more for your money. Maybe have leftovers for templates for another project...???
Call your local hardware store and see.