A hint for all you appliqué enthusiasts

I use freezer paper to make my appliqué templates - I think many, many quilters do also. I've spent hours and hours tracing templates onto the freezer paper. I've struggled to keep a book open and relatively flat so I could trace the page accurately. Many people I know have had their books spiral bound so they would lay flat. I kept meaning to do that, but never got around to it. Then I saw what my friend Sandra in North Star Quilters had done, which I thought was even better yet. So I followed Sandra's lead, and couldn't be happier.

Instead of having the pages spiral bound I punched them with a three-hole punch and put them in a view binder. When I took the books to the print shop to have the edges sliced off I asked them to save me the spine. I peeled out all page stubs and inserted the spine into the binder. I also inserted the front and back covers into the pocket in the notebook. This way I can pull a page of templates, scan it into the computer, and print it on freezer paper. No more tracing of templates - hooray! (At least templates that are printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper). One could also put the pages into page protectors, but I decided I wouldn't be turning the pages enough that the holes will wear out. If I do I can always put them into protectors later.

Thanks for the great idea Sandra!