Templates - what is your favorite or useless one??
 

Every time I look at a quilting video, I see a new template...are these various & sundry templates necessary? Do they make you a better piecing person or once bought, do they languish in the pile of stuff that you wish you had saved your money on? If you have purchased one that you cannot live without, please let us know what it is.

The only templates I've actually used (as opposed to inherited or purchased) are the ones I got from Rhonda ( or is it Ronda) on this board.
At some point I'm sure I will use the others - maybe. . .when I get brave enough to tackle curves. Lol!

I have many I haven't used, but I have used my Twister ruler and some of the Marti Michell templates---just love those!

The useless ones are the ones I haven't gotten around to using but I guess they have potential.

I only have the starmaker 5, 6, and 8. Plus the Flynn double wedding ring templates. I haven't seen a need for other templates. I have a 3.5 x 24" ruler (broken down to about 19 inches), and a curvy ruler for a specific block that hasn't been used for anything else. I think a twister ruler/template could be useful. You need to have at least one ruler, and it has most of the angles that you could need, except for the starmaker 5. (I'm fascinated by 5 pt stars, 10 pt stars. .) I would buy all that i have again, except the curvy ruler.

it kind of depends on 'your' quilting *habit*..do you tend to make the same kind of quilts over & over? such as storm at sea- if only making one once and do not plan to ever make another one=then It would be a waste to purchase the special rulers/templates---If you love that pattern & plan to make many variations of it then it is worth it to buy the specialty tools. I only buy the ones that I know I will use many times- and they do generally make the 'process' easier.

I wanted to make the Unbeweavable X-Block quilt. The template cost $20 and the pattern cost $11, plus shipping.

It seems like a lot of money to spend. I just can't justify the expense. There must be a market for these templates, but it does not include me.

I have quite a few rulers, and a few templates. I love the tumbler shape template. I have actually 3 of them, a mini, one that fits a 5" charm square, and one that is even larger. The more specialty rulers are helpful, but I wouldn't buy them until you are sure you need one. The most useful would be the triangle rulers, and the Tri-recs rulers. If it is something you are only going to use once, maybe see if you could borrow from someone, or try to find a way to make your own.

I would be embarrassed to say how many rulers I have...but I do use them. The only thing I am slowly going from Omnigrid to the Creative Grid rulers. Though I may have all of those I want. I bought the Twister a while back and have not yet used it but really do want to. I love my 8 ½ x 24½ inch, my 6½ x 6½, and my 6½ by 12½....I use these a LOT. I have the 20½ inch square and only use it occasionally, but boy, it does come in handy. Also have the 9½ and 12½ inch squares and use then occasionally.

I think the biggest waste for me was the square in a square ruler. I played with it just a little bit and it has just lain down there ever since.