How to Resize FPP Templates

Have you ever fallen in love with a quilt block pattern but wished it were just a smidge bigger or smaller to fit your project? Don’t let the size hold you back! I’m here to walk you through the simple steps to adjust those quilt block templates to fit your creative vision. Whether you want a bold statement piece or a charming miniature block, resizing is easier than you think.

Although many of my patterns come in multiple sizes, they may still not be the perfect size for your project.

The easiest way to reduce the block size is to trim the block and remove some background space or if you want to increase the block size, you could add a border.

Sometimes, neither of these options is appropriate.

If you don’t want to change the look of the block, you can adjust the "scale" of the design, which means changing the printing percentage.

Foundation paper pieced patterns can be purchased here.

A few things to keep in mind:

Foundation paper piecing templates often come with a quarter inch seam allowance. When you enlarge or reduce your templates, the seam allowances will also be reduced and enlarged. You will need to redraw new quarter inch seam allowances on your resized templates.
When reducing the size, smaller pieces can get tricky to handle
When enlarging, designs might not fit on a standard printer page. You may need to cut the template into smaller sections or print it at a copy shop on larger paper.

The Resizing Chart

Download the handy resizing chart by completing the form below.

How to Use the Chart

Example:

Let’s say you have a 6" x 6" block, but you want it to finish at 10" x 10”.

Find 6" in the Original Block Size column.
Find 10" in the New Block Size row.
Look where the row and column intersect—it’ll say 167 %.

Now you know to print at 167% to get your 10" x 10" block.

In general, any enlargement will have a percentage greater than 100%.

Any reduction, will have a percentage smaller than 100%.

Choose custom scale in your printer’s dialogue box and enter the required percentage.

What About Rectangular Blocks?

Resizing rectangular blocks works the same way, but you’ll want to pay attention to both dimensions.

Example:

You have a 6" x 8" block, and you’d like the longest side to measure 12".

Find 8" in the Original Block Size column and 12" in the New Block Size row. The intersection shows 150%.
Now, check how the shorter side will resize by looking in the 6" row for 150%. It’ll show 9".