bookworm913

I'm thinking of buying a set of acrylic templates from Baycreek Quilting. http://www.quilttemplates.com/home.html

What I want to know, are the templates easy to cut around (I'm assuming using rotary cutters)? Or are you supposed to draw around them before cutting? Thanks for any advice.

quiltingcandy

I have quite a few and have used them with my rotary cutter. They can be a challenge because you have to move around them depending on the template. I have used the hexagons of various sizes, triangles and diamonds. I ended up buying a mat that rotates. But have just done it on the end of my cutting table so I can walk around it than turning the fabric. Just easiest for me.

Nammie to 7

If they are curved then use a 28mm rotary cutter. It is easier to go around the curves with a small cutter.

evelyn5269

Love all my acrylic templates and have almost everything available. I do use a rotary mat but sometimes just my big one depending on the template. I also love dealing with Bay Creek. I do like the neon colored templates for me as my eyes are really getting bad and easier for me to see but that is just personal.

Prism99

I bought a set of unmarked acrylic templates years ago and then never used them. It was so long ago, I'm not really sure, but I think I found them tricky to use. I did not trace around them; they are meant to be held in place with one hand while you rotary cut with the other hand. I am not terribly clumsy, but I was not happy with ease of use. The templates had a tendency to slip, which was annoying. This is more of a problem with an acrylic template than with an acrylic ruler for a couple of reasons. One, the template is smaller which makes it more stressful to hold in place than, say, the usual 6" wide quilting ruler. Two, with a template you need to rotary cut around all sides. If you don't have a revolving rotary cutting mat, it is very easy for the template to slip out of place in relation to the fabric (especially if you are cutting layers of fabric) when you try to move the template/fabric layers to get a reasonable cutting angle. If you don't have a revolving cutting mat and also don't move the template/fabric combo around to get a good cutting angle, but instead try to cut around all sides with the rotary cutter, you are very likely to get a less than accurate cut on at least one side. This also makes it trickier to keep control of the rotary cutter blade so you don't accidentally slice yourself. If cutting completely around a shape without a revolving cutting mat, you will at some point be cutting towards yourself (and underneath the arm of the hand that is holding down the template).

Another disadvantage of the unmarked acrylic template set I had was that each template was useful for one, and only one, size of a specific shape. If you want to mix and match shapes, this is harder to do with unmarked templates because you can't be sure which cut size of one shape will match which cut size of another shape.

A set of acrylic templates can work for a specific quilt block -- for example, double wedding ring -- but is much less useful if you are thinking of mixing and matching shapes for multiple blocks.

What I would recommend instead (if you are not in the market for a die cutting machine such as the Accuquilt Go), is to consider buying specialized rulers. With these you can typically cut fabric into strips first, then use the ruler to cut repetitive shapes from the strips. One example of this, for right triangles, is the EZ Angle ruler:
http://www.amazon.com/Quilting-Angle...dp/B005KC3L4U/
With this ruler you can easily cut multiple right triangles out of a layer of fabric strips, and you can cut different sizes of triangles using the same ruler. With this ruler, you don't have the frustration of trying to cut around all 3 sides of a triangle template. Two of the sides have already been formed by the sides of the fabric strips, so you are using the specialized ruler to cut only the third side.

In my opinion, the clear acrylic templates in the Bayside link you provided are outdated. If I did want to purchase a set of templates for rotary cutting, I would prefer Ardco metal templates (window versions, with gripper material on the underneath side so fabric doesn't slip). I actually have used an Ardco hexagon template to cut hexagons for hand piecing. In that particular case, I cut fabric strips to match the width of the hexagon template, which automatically provided 2 of the 6 sides of the hexagon, then placed the Ardco template on 4 to 6 layers of fabric strips to cut the other sides. You could do this with an acrylic template too, but would need to add some kind of non-slip surface to the underside.

ckcowl

I have many, many acrylic templates, would be lost without them! Some shapes I use a cutter with ( often my 28 mm or 18 mm size cutter) sometimes I trace around the template then cut out the shape, just depends on the size/shape I am working with. Everyone finds what works best for them with templates. I personally love acrylic templates and watch for new ones.

Toni C

If you are having problems with slipping get some rubber cement glue and paint the underside and let dry. It's clear and you can peel off with your fingers when you want to.

Geri B

..acrylic templates are wonderful! Beats cardboard or sheet plastics "homemade" kind any day....for slippage use whatever works---- sandpaper discs, glue, etc. and yes, investing in rotating cutting mats is helpful....I just bought fiskar 8" for cutting hexies(acrylic template, of course!)...and smaller sized rotary cutter for curves helps too. Just a thought, though, if you buy unmarked, on some shapes you may want to score in the straight of grain line.....like HST, etc. have fun not frustration!

nativetexan

i have some thick acrylic templates for drunkard path blocks but i've always traced around them. i trace them closely to each other, saving fabric. i don't mind scissor cutting at all.

Sewnoma

I avoid them, personally. I had a 60-degree triangle template (not a ruler, a template) and I ended up shaving one of the sides down with my rotary blade by accident, and not noticing until I'd cut a bunch of triangles that were about 1/8th inch too narrow on one side. Naturally out of fabric I was already short on.

So I cannot be trusted with them, and must use a thick ruler that I can't slice into, because I get a little wild with the rotary blade, apparently!