i have a stencil in my collection that was cut by a quilter using a single blade xacto knife and is cut on freezer paper. She said she was the stencil person in her guild and made stencils from the books. An easier way is to use the double blace knife (was origially called a leading knife and used in stain glass making) The Xacto is no longer available but Olfa did have one. not sure if it is readily available but do know www.quiltingstencils.com still has some. It is about $5.95 and uses a flexible plastic. Not hard to do and can have many uses when no prepared stencil fits the space.