Abby, thanks for this great tute! I've always thought templates were a complete pain and have denied myself some great quilt patterns simply to avoid dealing with them (kind of like hand-wash only clothes . . . they go right back on the sales rack and I don't give them a second glance. LOL.).
BUT, I'd never heard of the hole-punch and connecting the dots before. I finished blocks 1 & 2 last night and I may use the template method for every block now. It was so easy to be accurate by sewing on the lines. And even better than that, it was so nice to hold the fabric in my hands while cutting, just enjoying the feel of it. Relaxing. Thank you!