Circle Templates

Templates - Tutorial - Gallery

There are many different circle templates on the market today for longarm quilters.  Longarm quilting templates, of any size or type, MUST be at least 1/4 inch thick acrylic plastic.  Colors of plastic may vary, but they should be translucent.  All of the circle longarm templates on the market are good, but, in my opinion, there is one problem with them.  None of them compensate for the 1/4 inch width of the quilting machine hopping foot.  For example, if you have a six inch circle template from any manufacturer and you stitch around it, your finished circle is 6 1/2 inches in diameter.  This may not be a big issue for you, but, if you want a six inch circle to be stitched just inside a six inch block , a 6 1/2 inch circle WON’T fit!

Why “Re-Design the Wheel?”

I have been a professional longarm quilter for over ten years and in the last few years I have been working extensively with templates of all sorts. To make my life easier,  I re-designed the circle templates to compensate for the 1/4 inch width of the machine’s hopping foot and I had my own templates made.  I also had my templates made so that they “nest” together with a 2 inch wide “holding area”.  This holding area gave me enough room to securely hold the template with my left hand on the quilt top and the base unit of my machine.  (Some circle templates only have a 1 inch holding area and it makes it hard to hold the larger sizes of circles when stitching.  Other circle templates are one large piece of plastic and can be heavy and cumbersome to use if quilting a large space.)  By having the templates nesting I could have several templates cut from the same piece of acrylic plastic.

I had two different sets of circle templates created

SET A, a set of EVEN SIZED circles.  This seven piece template set ranges in size from (finished size) 2 inches to (finished size) 14 inches.

SET B, a set of ODD SIZED circles.  This six piece template set ranges in size from (finished size) 3 inches to (finished size) 13inches.

With  these two sets of templates I can create circles from 2 inches in diameter to 14  inches in diameter.

When I had the new templates created for my own use, I discovered one more problem.  I never gave a thought to the color of the plastic that was used in the manufacture of the templates. When all the circle templates were gathered and stored together, because they were all one color, I couldn’t tell which circles belonged to which set.  So, after consulting with my “plastics guy” I decided to have each set of circles made in a different color.  Not only does my template storage area look more colorful, I can tell which templates go together at a glance.  No more rummaging around for a long time to find all the sizes!

To View a tutorial on Circle Templates Click Here

To view a gallery of quilts that have been quilted with the Circle Templates Click Here

Products to make your template stitching easier
Stencil Grids - Temporary Fabric Spray Baste
Fabric Marking Pens - Miracle Chalk - ChalkOLiner

	Even Size Templates A seven piece template set that ranges in size from (finished size) 2 inches to (finished size) 14 inches. Includes Instruction Manual      $85
	Odd Size Circle Templates A six piece template set that ranges in size from (finished size) 3 inches to (finished size) 13inches. Includes Instruction Manual    $85
	Do you already own a set of Circle Templates? Do you know how to use them? I have adapted the Instruction Manual and created Quilting in Circles. This book can be used with ANY circle templates! Click here for more information. Please note: the same information that is in Quilting in Circles is INCLUDED in the Circle Template sets.

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