Have you ever tried to free motion quilt a perfect circle? It can be pretty near impossible, even for the most seasoned of quilters. Instead of stressing and trying to stitch a circle by yourself, by using the Dabline Circle Templates you can stitch 2 different size circles with ease. 

With our circle template from Dabline Quilting Template Set you can easily stitch beautiful spheres on your quilts to highlight your quilt tops.  

Make sure you Set Up Your Machine for Quilting with Templates before you start practicing on how to use the Circle templates.

Now that you have your machine set up and ready for quilting with templates, you can begin practicing with the circle template. 

How To Use Dabline’s Circle Templates

We suggest practicing the motions of the template under your needle before you actually start stitching on your quilt project. This will help your hands and mind get used to the movements you will be making to achieve perfect circles. 

To practice, prepare a practice quilt sandwich (at least a 9” square). You want to make sure you have plenty of room for the template and grip on your practice piece. 

You can practice moving with the template either with your sewing machine off or you can practice with it on by removing the top and bobbin thread. This will allow you to figure out what speed you want to go with the needle and not have to remove any unwanted stitches. 

Circle Cut Out Template with Grip Instructions

Place the grip on your practice quilt. Next take the template that has the circle cut out and place it into the grip. You will then choose your starting point for your circle. There are markings on the circle cut out template that you can use as a point of reference for where to start your circles. 

Think of it as a clock and start at either 12, 3, 6, or 9. You will then slowly stitch around the template with your FMQ foot either going clockwise or counter clockwise.

Tip: Be sure to not let the grip slip around on the fabric to ensure you create a perfect circle. Also, make sure you always keep the FMQ foot up against the template edge.

As soon as you are confident in your movements, do a few practice circles on your practice quilt using the previous instructions, only this time add thread and have your machine on. Once your circles are perfect and you are confident to start stitching on your actual quilt project, jump right in and have fun!

Circular Template

For this template, we recommend using the quilting gloves that come with our quilting templates. The gloves will help hold the template in place. Definitely figure out the hand placement that works best for you.

To practice, place the template on your practice quilt. First only practice the movements like the other template. Take it nice and slow, making sure you are making smooth movements. 

Just like the cut out circle template, choose a starting point and start going around the template either clockwise or counter clockwise, whichever works best for you. 

When you are moving the fabric under the needle, keep the template stationary using your hands. Practice the movements until you are ready to move on to actually quilting onto your practice quilt.

Once you have your practice in and you’re ready to work on one of your quilt projects, go for it and remember to take it slow and steady to make sure your stitches are even and your circles are perfectly symmetrical.

We here at Dabline are passionate about all things quilting and crafting and we strive to make our products easy to understand and fun to use! We sincerely hope you have a blast creating beautifully quilted projects using the Circle Templates and grip.

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