Using Quarter Inch · Cutting and printing
Print English paper piecing papers and templates
For a quilt sewn by hand over papers, Quarter Inch counts every paper, prints them at finished size, and gives the fabric template and the strips to cut.
The short answer
For English paper piecing, Quarter Inch counts every paper and prints them at finished size, with the fabric template. On the quilt’s Cutting page, choose Paper pieces, then Print papers; print one page to start, on card stock if you can. Cut each fabric piece with the fabric template, ⅜″ larger than its paper.
Print papers for a hexagon quilt
A quilt sewn by hand over papers, like a Grandmother’s Flower Garden, has Paper pieces on its Cutting page in place of a cutting chart and templates. Garden Walk, 36″ × 42″ in 1″ hexagons, needs 624 papers, 1 shape.
Open the quilt’s Cutting page and choose Paper pieces. Each shape has a card: the paper at finished size, the fabric piece ⅜″ larger all around, and how many papers each fabric needs.
Garden Walk’s papers: one shape, six fabrics. Choose Print papers. Under Papers, finished size, choose one page to start, or all 624. One page is often enough: a paper comes out once its hexagon is surrounded, and goes around again.
Tick The fabric template too, to cut the fabric pieces, and How to sew by hand for basting, joining and taking the papers out. Choose the Paper, then Make the PDF.
Print at Actual size and measure the 1″ test square. Print the papers on card stock if you can: they hold their corners longer.
18 papers a page on Letter · 35 pages for all of them.
Cutting the fabric
Cut 2⅝″ strips. Lay the fabric template on a strip, flats to the edges, and cut round it: 14 from a strip. Or cut round each paper by eye, ⅜″ out. Print the fabric template prints it on its own.
| Fabric | Papers | Fabric pieces | To buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunflower · Center | 20 | 2 strips 2⅝″, 14 a strip | ¼ yd |
| Peony · Petals | 58 | 5 strips 2⅝″, 14 a strip | ½ yd |
| Ballet Slipper · Leaves | 126 | 9 strips 2⅝″, 14 a strip | ¾ yd |
| Cornflower · Petals | 60 | 5 strips 2⅝″, 14 a strip | ½ yd |
| Powder Blue · Leaves | 118 | 9 strips 2⅝″, 14 a strip | ¾ yd |
| Snow · Path | 242 | 18 strips 2⅝″, 14 a strip | 1½ yd |
84 are cut by the trimmed edge. Buying papers? Ask for 1″ hexagons: “1 inch” is the side, as papers are sold.
New to the method? English paper piecing for beginners. For other sizes, see hexagon sizes.
Designing a hexagon quilt and seeing its yardage are free. The papers, the fabric template and the PDF come with Quilter: $9 a month or $89 a year.
If it doesn’t look right
- There’s a Cutting chart, not Paper pieces. The quilt’s hexagons are set to be machine pieced. Paper pieces are for a quilt sewn by hand over papers.
- The papers you bought are a different size. Papers are sold by their side: a “1 inch” hexagon is 1″ a side, about 1¾″ across the flats.
- The printed paper measures small. Check the test square.
Checked against the app on
Questions
Short answers.
Something else? A real person replies.
hello@quarterinch.app
How many papers do I need to print?
Often one page to start: a paper comes out once its hexagon is surrounded and can be used again while its corners hold.
Do the papers include seam allowance?
No. Papers are the finished size; the fabric template adds the allowance you fold over.
What size hexagon is a “1 inch” paper?
Papers are sold by their side, so 1″ means each side is 1″.