Holice

cardboard will distort if used often.
some will use old x ray film if available.
Any plastic will work. Just make sure it is flat.
Plastic lids, etc etc.
It is useful to glue a strip of fine sand paper to the back to keep from slipping. If I am making one a few shapes, I will cut out of graft paper and then use rotary cutter to cut using the paper as the shape. Have to be careful for accuracy.

#1piecemaker

I never thought about using milk jugs. Thanks for the idea!!

#1piecemaker

Good idea! Thanks for sharing.

Barb44

I use heavy paper or cardboard if I will only use them for one quilt. If it is something I will use again I use template plastic. I bought a package years ago and have not used it all so it has not been expensive for me. But then I don't use a lot of templates except for hand quilting designs and those I buy.

Carol Jean

I use a lot of cerel bowls, notebook backs & fronts, mylar, hard plastic, sturdy cardboard for templates. Something which is more intricate, I use my mylar.

RkayD

My grandma used to cut hers out of fine sandpaper. i opened up a book I got of hers when she passed and found some tucked inside. They are some of my most treasured quilting things. When I need to cut some I use old xray plastic. When I first started quilting a friend would save the over exposed film for me. I have a ton!

Jennifer22206

butter lids, old plastic shoe boxes, cardboard. For circles, I use scratched CDs that won't play anymore.

leiladylei54

If the template is only for a few pieces, then I use a manila file folder to make my template. If the template will be used over and over for a long time, then I use the hard plastic (that sometimes covers things that you buy like a curling iron...you know the kind that you need a scissors or knife or box cutter to open it). I also found that manila file folders come in plastic. And any kind of plastic such as the commercial grade shelving came with plastic liners for the shelves. What a score on that one as the pieces were super large and 6 of them (one for each shelf)!!! But if the template might be something like squares or a triangle, then I might buy the template if the size fulfills the need. On the issue of cutting the plastic, I purchased (but haven't tried as of yet) an electric wood burning tool. I'm thinking that maybe it would be better using this idea for those areas where you cannot manipulate a pair of scissors to cut through the plastic very accurately. I also thought that if the wood burning tool makes the edges of the cut jagged, then I could use fine sand paper to smooth it out.

Painiacs

Both! Use snapper when I make them. Doesn't slide

AliKat

I am very fortunate because we have a local plastic company that will cut anything I want. Literally. I can take in a drawing to size and that is what he cuts for me.

He doesn't mark the templates though. That is why it is so cost effective.

He even cut the inset for my sewing machine cabinet when I got a new machine ... so now I can use either machine with my cabinet.

nice.

ali