Quilt Marking Tool for Tying a Quilt

by Christa
(Coalville, Utah)

Question

Do you have something called "Quilters Companion". It is a fabric overlay with holes to mark where to tie a quilt. If not, do you know where I can get one?
Thanks.

Reply

Christa, I wish I had better news to report.

I don't carry this notion myself; we won't have a store up until sometime 2011. I've checked my local quilt store and come up blank; searched the internet on all sorts of keywords, again to no avail.

May I suggest using freezer paper and creating your own template? (do check out our UPDATE below, too...)

Because of the plastic coating on one side, freezer paper makes great template material. It stands up to repeated use. You can punch the holes with a large needle or an awl and then use a Pounce pad or another chalk pencil to mark where the ties should go.

If you think it's too flimsy, then iron two sheets together and then create your marking holes.

Lay a piece of freezer paper plastic side down on your ironing board and another piece on top of it, again PLASTIC SIDE DOWN, and iron with a dry iron. You'll have a very stiff template that can be cut as wide or as long as your quilt.

NEVER, never, never iron on the plastic side, it'll gum up your iron...ask me how I know?!) You'll even be able to iron this 'double sheet template' to your quilt top (plastic side down). The plastic melts just enough to stick to the fabric, but you can pull it away after you've marked with confidence that there'll be no residue left behind on your quilt top.

I use two layers of freezer paper for applique templates when I do hand applique and have never had a problem with it.

I hope this has helped a bit. I wish I could have found the notion you were looking for.

Readers, any ideas? Do you know where to locate this "Quilter's Companion" for marking the tie spacing on quilts?

Thank you for your help!

Piecefully,

Julie Baird
Editor

UPDATE: We've added some alternative suggestions to the site for creating a fabric overlay for tying quilts. It suggest three different materials to use for the overlay.