Perfect
Patchwork
Templates

I've known Marti Michell (and her husband Dick) for a long time. She and her husband started their business somewhere around the time that Dick and I started ours. I went to several seminars she sponsored with Mary Ellen Hopkins, and have learned a lot from Marti and her books over the years. I learned the wonderful techniques of strip piecing in its early days, and it's the only kind of quilting I've done. Marti was the same way, really sold on the speed of strip piecing.

That's why I wondered what on earth she was doing talking about templates at a trade show a while back. I kind of thought she'd "lost it" because I knew her life style hadn't slowed up any more than mine. I listened to her politely, smiled and went on my way. I actually did that twice.

Then I went to judge the Product Excellence Awards for the craft and hobby industry, and Marti's was one of the entries in the quilting division. I honestly thought she'd probably done a great job with the product, but it wouldn't be anything that would fit in our shop. But this time I had the time to really examine what she was talking about, and, guess what! She's right again!

Marti's templates combine with rotary cutting and she's still on the fast track! It slows you down when you guess at pieces like the triangle added to the square below on the left if you guess wrong. Marti's way is to take the time to clip the corners, and there's no time spent ripping! Things fit together better, lie flatter, and it speeds up the whole process.