30 Days of Quilting Gratitude
Day 3 – rulers and templates: As I started gathering rulers and templates to photograph for this post, I came to the realization that an intervention might be in order. I seem to have a fetish for tools, similar to women who collect too many pairs of shoes…something I never understood. Until now. But I need them. I tell myself that. Much like a man's toolbox with every size screwdriver and wrench, a quilter's sewing supply needs rulers and templates to make getting the job done easier. I truly believe that! I love my rulers. 🙂
It's such a change from a century ago. I dug through a treasured box of goodies that belonged to my grandmother. It was very common for Grandma to see a quilt pattern posted in our local newspaper, and she would mail a request and receive it like this, although I notice she must have borrowed and never returned this one, as, looking at the address, I don't know who Mrs. J. J. Carr might be. Must have been one of Grandma's Clearwater neighbors!
So many block designs available on this one! Then you flip it over and yikes! Look at how many templates are fit on this sheet. Instructions were included how to trace the templates to cardboard or sandpaper, which was then cut out and used to trace on fabric.
In addition to instructions, a lot of helpful hints, advice and even some advertising was included.
Fast forward a hundred years and we find this, what I consider a good, basic starter collection of Omnigird rulers. I love them because they have markings in yellow and in black, so it's easy to see on any fabric.
Then we have more Omnigrid rulers, along with a few odds and end pieces and a set of Pandora's Box templates from Quilting From the Heartland.
And that's when life becomes more complicated, because there are so many specialty rulers and templates, that accompany specific patterns and books. Yes, others can be substituted, but I have found I just like to have the designated tool that goes with the design, such as these:
And I love this 10-inch half hex template from Missouri Star Quilt Company. I used it and their free tutorial available here on YouTube to make the table runner.
Different rulers help create different shapes, such as blades, curves and scallops…
They perform a specific function, such as fitting across the entire width of the cutting table and/or having a lip on the edge to assist keeping the ruler steady…
The older rulers required "fabric grips" be adhered to the back of them, to keep them from sliding on fabric while using them.
Then life got plum crazy because Creative Grids came out with non-slip rulers. Lots of them. And it's hard not to want them all. They have so many specialty purpose rulers, in addition to standard-shaped rulers.
The back side of each ruler has etched gripper dots, making them easy to use and no more fabric grips are required. A really nice feature is that many of the rulers are permanently marked with an MS Tag which, when scanned, takes you to YouTube for a video demonstration of that particular ruler's features.
Sadly, I ran out of space on my table when getting out all my rulers and templates, so (yes, it's true) I don't have all of them pictured here. I don't think an intervention is required. I choose to be grateful and happy….not only that I have all these tools, but we live in a world of such creative people who are able to design and share these with all of us!
