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Quilt Rulers – Types, Usage, and Care

Since we use rulers every time we quilt, I thought I would talk about rulers I use and share some tips on using rulers and caring for rulers. Most of my rulers are the standard ones every quilter is introduced to when they are beginners. However, I use do use a few that are not standard although I’m not one that goes for the fad rulers. But, if you like those and they help you with certain blocks, great! Let me know if you use an interesting ruler in the comments. I may try it. Let’s get started!

My Rulers

Here are the rulers I use most often and I am sure you all recognize and have them in your collection:

The long 6 1/2 x 24 1/2″ ruler is great for cutting long strips from yardage. I use the 6 1/2 x 12 1/2″ ruler next to it to help square up yardage and also for cutting strips from smaller pieces of fabric like fat 1/4s, fat 1/8s and layer cakes. The 6 1/2 square ruler is used to help square up those smaller fats and also to square up smaller blocks. 

The smallest ruler (upper right) is my 4 1/2″ square that usually lives by my sewing machine as I am piecing units. I use it to measure as I go, something I talked about in my favorite tips blog last week.

I also use these two rulers below for the measuring as I go steps for different size units.

Like I talked about last week, measuring units of a block as you go will lead to accurately pieced blocks that measure the size that’s indicated in the pattern. The success of your quilt relies on your blocks measuring correctly. If a quilt block is supposed to be 12 1/2 x 12 1/2″, for example, measuring the block units as you go will help you with that goal.

My Not So Standard Rulers

Here’s three rulers you may not see used everyday, although the one on the end is being used more and more.

Starting with the one on the far right, that is the Quilt in a Day Triangle Square-up ruler. Let me tell you, the day I discovered this one was a great day. I love making traditional quilt patterns that have a lot of half-square triangle (HST) squares and this ruler helps you trim those to size faster.

The way you use this ruler is to trim the HST while it is still closed (not pressed open). That way, you are only having to trim 2 sides instead of trimming all 4 sides of a pressed open square.

You find the line on the ruler that is size of your HST (including seam allowance). Then place that line on the seam line and trim off the excess fabric. Once you press open the unit, your HST will measure correctly. In my example above, my HST needs to be 1 1/2″ so I find the 1 1/2″ line on the ruler and line that up with the seam.

The other two rulers with all the circles are actually not quilting rulers but they are ones I found in the craft/scrap book area of the store. I like to appliqué, both fabric and wool, and I design a lot of motifs where precise circles are needed. These rulers help with that.

Finally I use these rulers below to measure or square up completed blocks. I have a 9 1/2″, 12 1/2″ and 16 1/2″. Once again, this helps your quilt top go together smoothly and measure correctly by having the blocks measure correctly.

Using the Rulers

Using your quilt rulers also entails reading them correctly. I’m going to use my favorite ruler brand, Creative Grid, to demonstrate what I mean by this. The reason I like these rulers is that they are easy to read no matter which side of the ruler you are working from.

The markings between to 1″ lines are different lengths which I think helps me to read the ruler more quickly and accurately while I am cutting. Notice how the 1/8″ lines are slightly shorter than the 1/4″ lines and the 1/2″ line is longer than both of those. This helps me find odd measurements like 2 3/8″ and 3 3/4″ quickly on the ruler.

I also like that the numbers go in both directions so no matter how the ruler is turned, they are easy to read (photo below):

Notice how the white whole numbers go in one direction and the black half measurement numbers go in the other. This way, I can use the ruler each way depending on what type of measurement I want.

Next, I  can use these ruler to find the center of a piece of fabric or block by using the markings on the ruler. Those intersecting white lines and the circle where they meet is the exact center of this ruler shown below. This comes in handy when squaring up blocks or when you are fussy cutting a piece of fabric:

Cutting & Safety

These two things go hand in hand. If you are cutting correctly you will reduce the chance of having a cutting accident. Ruin less fabric and protect those fingers from the rotary cutter.

Besides the general safety of closing and locking your rotary cutter when it’s not in use and using safety gloves, these other tips should help keep you from damaging your fabric or injuring yourself.

Fabric Saver: Always line up the ruler with the edge of your fabric and double check that your ruler is placed correctly. Also make sure it’s not crooked. To help with that use some painter’s tape on the ruler’s measurement line, especially if you are cutting a lot of strips.

It’s a good idea to use the same brand of ruler, if you need to switch between sizes, for all the pieces you’re cutting. Different brands of rulers can have lines of different thickness. Even if they are off by less than 1/16 of an inch, it could cause a problem when you are piecing.

Safety & Accuracy: Keeping the ruler from shifting while you are cutting is also a safety and accuracy step. A shifting ruler could send your rotary cutter “off course” and headed for an unprotected hand as well as waste a piece of fabric. Even pressure from your hand holding the ruler keeps it from shifting.

“Tent” your hand as shown in the photos above with your pinkie on the edge to keep the ruler from moving. If you place your hand flat on the ruler, you may inadvertently push the ruler forward. Tenting your hand makes the pressure your are exerting go down instead of forward. When you are cutting a long strip, you may want to stop briefly and move your hand up the ruler so you can keep the pressure even through the entire cutting of the strip.

Another tip is to make sure your rotary cutter is straight and hugging the edge of your ruler all the way through the cut you are making. You want your rotary cutter straight like in the photo on the left, not slanted like the photo on the right (photos below):

Storage & Care:

Finally, storage and care are important for your rulers. Rulers are expensive and you want to avoid having to replace them as much as possible. Here are some tips:

  • Clean your rulers periodically by dusting with a soft cloth. Do not use anything abrasive like paper towels that can scratch the ruler surface and make the markings harder to read. Also don’t use any cleaning solution with bleach or ammonia. If you need to use a cleaning solution, use those that are meant for plexiglass.
  • Store your rulers, like your cutting mat, away from direct sunlight and not in areas of your home with extreme temperature changes.
  • Finally, make sure to store your rulers securely. If you drop them or they fall from a storage area, they will chip or break. You can hang them on a peg board, from  hooks on a wall or put them in a ruler holder on your table. 

Here’s my rulers on the peg board:

That’s it for this week. Pull out your rulers and have some fun!

Happy Quilting,
Deanne

Helpful Tips for Ruler Use & Fabric Cutting

What is one of the most important tools when you are starting a new quilt project? Rulers! Using them correctly is the best way to not ruin that expensive fabric with cutting mistakes. That’s why I chose this week to cover ruler use and tips as well as tips for the fabric you are cutting.

Rulers Cutting Tips

I’ve talked about caring for rulers, along with other quilting tools, in past posts. Now I’m going to talk about tips when using these tools starting with rulers.

Tip #1: Learn how to read your ruler. No matter the brand you use, it’s always a good idea to be familiar with all the markings and lines on your rulers. I prefer Creative Grid  (photo on left) rulers because they are clear, they have gripper dots and strips embedded on the back for less slipping (photo on right) and the markings are designed to be easily read no matter which side of the ruler you are working off of.

The markings between to 1″ lines are different lengths which I think helps me to read the ruler more quickly and accurately while I am cutting.

Look at the photo below. Notice how the 1/8″ lines are slightly shorter than the 1/4″ lines and the 1/2″ line is longer than both of those. This helps me find odd measurements like 2 3/8″ and 3 3/4″ quickly on the ruler. I also like that the numbers go in both directions so no matter how the ruler is turned, they are easy to read.

Tip #2: Always line up the ruler with the edge of your fabric and double check that your ruler is placed correctly. If you are cutting multiple strips of the same size and you don’t have a specialized ruler that helps with that, mark your ruler with a piece of painter’s tape.

It’s a good idea to use the same brand of ruler, if you need to switch between sizes, for all the pieces you’re cutting. Different brands of rulers can have lines of different thickness. Even if they are off by less than 1/16 of an inch, it could cause a problem when you are piecing.

Tip #3: Keep the ruler from shifting when cutting.  A shifting ruler can send your rotary cutter “off course” and cause cutting mistakes and perhaps injuries to your hand. Even pressure from your hand holding the ruler keeps it from shifting.

“Tent” your hand as shown in the photos above with your pinkie on the edge to keep the ruler from moving. If you place your hand flat on the ruler, you may inadvertently push the ruler forward. Tenting your hand makes the pressure your are exerting go down instead of forward. When you are cutting a long strip, you may want to stop briefly and move your hand up the ruler so you can keep the pressure even through the entire cutting of the strip.

Tip #4: Make sure your rotary cutter is straight and hugging the edge of your ruler all the way through the cut you are making. You want your rotary cutter straight like in the photo on the left, not slanted like the photo on the right.

Fabric Cutting Tips

Tip #1: The most important tip I can share is to make sure your fabric is squared up before you cut strips. Especially if you are cutting long strips that you will sub-cut into smaller pieces. If you start with a distorted strip, all the pieces you cut from that strip can be off in their measurements. 

When fabric is rolled onto the bolt at the manufacturer, the lengthwise grain of the fabric can end up not being straight. That’s why it is important to square it up so strips that you cut from the fabric are not bent in the middle. Here are two strips side by side:

Notice how the strip on the left bends away from the line on the mat? That happens when fabric is not squared up. Below is my mini video tutorial demonstrating the process of squaring up fabric.

I square up all sizes of fabric I’m cutting into strips, including fat quarters and fat eights.

Tip #2: Whether you pre-wash your fabric or not, always press the fabric prior to cutting. Obviously washed fabric will have wrinkles and creases to press out before cutting. But, if you don’t pre-wash, there will still be creases to press out from where the fabric was folded to fit the bolt.

A crease or a wrinkle can cause your rotary cutter to skip or can cause your strip to be distorted.

Tip #3: When figuring how much fabric you need for the pieces you need to cut, don’t forget about selvages. (photos below):

Selvage is the tightly woven, finished edges of fabric on the lengthwise grain. This prevents the woven fabric from fraying or unraveling. When cutting smaller pieces from a strip, selvages are cut off before you start. So remember, the actual usable fabric width is between those selvages. 

Tip #4: This last tip is a fun one. Once you are done cutting your current project’s pieces and there is a bit of fabric left over, if you are lucky, continue to cut strips in the sizes you like to collect for future scrap projects. These strips can also be used for scrappy borders and scrappy quilt binding. I keep mine stored in bins organized by color and size.

So those are what I think are the most important tips to remember. If you can think of others that you follow, leave a comment. We can always learn something new from each other!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Fabric Cutting Tools and Tips for Quilters

The last few weeks we talked about squaring up fabric and cutting strips to make strip sets. This week, I want to cover fabric cutting in general,  specifically cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler tips. Some of these tips you may already know but some may be new to you. Keeping your cutting supplies in good working order is important to making your cutting experience a good one. Let get started on this week’s tips.

Cutting Mats

Lines on the Cutting Mat: I have heard this advice and I am sure you have too. “Never use the lines on your cutting mat to cut fabric”. I don’t like absolute statements like that. There are times when it’s perfectly fine to use the lines on the mat, especially if you know they are accurate according to the ruler you use.

As you can see, my Creative Grids ruler lines line up with the 1/2″ and 1″ lines on my cutting mat. So, I can use my cutting mat with confidence as a measurement guide if something I am cutting exceeds the length of my 6 1/2 x 24 1/2″ ruler. I generally use my mat if I have a long strip to measure or when measuring a length of fabric. I also use the line on the bottom to line up my fabric when I am squaring it up (this is before I place the rulers for squaring).

As you can see in the photo above, I can tell that I matched up my selvages well in the first step of squaring fabric because the fold of my fabric lays smoothly and evenly along this bottom line.

Mat Maintenance: The caution for above falls under maintenance of your mat. The reason most say not to use the lines for cutting, especially over and over in the same place, is it can create a worn area even on your self-healing mat. Yes, even they can wear out! Rotate your mat often and avoid cutting in the same place. Some mats are even double sided so if yours is, flip it occasionally and use the other side. If you take care of your self-healing mat, it will last years. Here are more tips for cleaning and maintaining your mat:

  • You can remove bits of fabric fiber that get caught in cuts in your mat by rubbing a gum eraser (artist’s eraser) over sections you have just used to cut. You can also use a soft toothbrush. Make sure it’s soft so you don’t damage your mat.
  • You can also remove bits of fiber or lint from the surface by wrapping your hand in packing tape and lightly running it over the mat

You can see in the photo on the right all the lint I picked up!

  • Always store your mat flat. Now, you have no problem with that if you have a dedicated sewing space, but if you do not, be sure not to store your mat leaning against a wall or anywhere on end. This will cause your mat to bend out of shape and warp, possibly beyond repair. If you don’t have an area where you can lie it flat when not in use, consider hanging it in a closet using a skirt hanger:

I put a little piece of scrap batting over the top edge of the mat to protect it from the clips on the hanger.

  • Keep the mat away from extreme temperature changes, especially out of direct sunlight. Never iron on your mat.
  • Finally, you can moisturize your mat to keep it supple and healthy. Put 1/4 cut of white vinegar per gallon of cool water in a tub and soak the mat for about 15 minutes. Use a very soft toothbrush to remove the fiber bits. You can also add in a few drops of mild dish soap. Rinse with cool water, gently towel dry or lay it flat on a towel for drying.

Rotary Cutter

Safety first! The rotary cutter has a very sharp blade, as we know (I know from personal experience and a trip to the ER!). The first safety tip is to make sure you have a fresh blade. The blade might look good to the naked eye, but if you feel like you have to press down hard to cut through all the layers of fabric, it’s time to change the blade. Also, if you notice “skips” in the cutting, that’s another sign that your blade is dulling. Once you change the blade, store the used one in an empty rotary blade container marked “used blades”. Once it’s full, you can safely toss it away.

Also, a dull blade can also damage your cutting mat!

To make my cutting experience even safer, I never leave the blade open. Use the lock button as well so no one can accidentally open the cutter.

I also use a klutz glove and ruler safety shields on my rulers for added safety:

The safety shields come only in a 24″ long size for the long ruler, but I bought extra and had them cut to size to fit my smaller rulers.

Finally, anchoring the ruler correctly while cutting will keep your rotary cutter mistakes to a minimum. Tent your hand instead of laying it flat on the ruler. If you hand is flat on the ruler, there’s more of a chance of you pushing the ruler out of place. The tenting of your hand focuses your pressure down to keep the ruler in place.

There are tools like this Little Gripper that helps you get a better grip on your ruler if you are unable to tent your hand with enough pressure.

Rulers

Using the Ruler: When it comes to cutting, most of us know about the straight lines and a basic reading of a ruler. But there are other markings on the ruler that can come in handy. I’m using my favorite rulers, Creative Grid, for these examples. Here’s a few of these markings:

  • You can use the ruler to find the center of a piece of fabric or block by using the markings on the ruler. Those intersecting white lines and the circle where they meet is the exact center of this ruler shown below. This comes in handy when squaring up blocks or when you are fussy cutting a piece of fabric.
  • The 45 degree line comes in handy when you are trimming a half-square or quarter-square triangle squares. Place the 45 degree ruler line on the diagonal seam of your square to guarantee that you are trimming the square evenly on all sides. The 45 degree line also comes in handy when cutting bias strips to make bias binding or for making stems for appliqué motifs.
  • Use the extra lines between the 1″ lines to quickly identify where to place your ruler. On the Creative Grids ruler, notice the lines between the inches are different lengths. The 1/8″ lines are slightly shorter than the 1/4″ lines and the 1/2″ line is longer than both of those (see photo below). This helps you find measurements like 2 3/8″ and 3 3/4″ quickly on the ruler.

Caring for Your Rulers:

  • Clean your rulers periodically by dusting with a soft cloth. Do not use anything abrasive like paper towels that can scratch the ruler surface and make the markings harder to read. Also don’t use any cleaning solution with bleach or ammonia. If you need to use a cleaning solution, use those that are meant for plexiglass.
  • Store your rulers, like your cutting mat, away from direct sunlight or in areas of your home with extreme temperature changes.
  • Finally, make sure to store your rulers securely. If you drop them or they fall from a storage area, they will chip or break. I hang my rulers on a peg board that you can find at any hardware store. Mine was meant for a garage, but it works in my sewing room.

If you don’t have a dedicated sewing space where you can mount something to the wall, you can store your rulers hanging from a hanger:

So that’s it for this week. With all this information on cutting mats, rotary cutters and rulers, you should be ready to get cutting! Leave me a comment or ask any questions below and be entered into a drawing for a 6 1/2″ square Creative Grids ruler! 

Also share some of your cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler tips. You never know where you can pick up a great tip!

The drawing will be on Monday, August 30th. Good luck! **We have a winner! Congrats, Karen!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Tips for Accurate Piecing

Hi quilters! This week, I want to cover all the things that go into accurate piecing. You would be surprised what can contribute to your unit or block not measuring accurately when you are finished piecing. That is the most frustrating thing after you have worked really hard on it! I have also received a request from a reader to cover how to get an accurate 1/4″ seam if you don’t have a 1/4″ foot for your machine. So let’s get started with all the tips I think are important for accuracy.

Tip #1 – Cutting Your Pieces

Yes, you saw that right. Accurate piecing starts with accurate cutting! I you are cutting a lot of strips for a project and they all need to be the same width, my first recommendation is to use the same ruler or rulers from the same company. I like Creative Grid rulers.

These rulers have really clear markings in both directions so no matter which side of the ruler you are using, you can find the measurement you want. They also have a slip resistant back.

If you have to cut a lot of strips the same width, I recommend using painter’s tape to mark the width on your ruler for a guide. That way if you are cutting a lot of 2 1/2″ strips, you won’t accidentally cut one 2 1/4″.

See how that bright line of tape makes it easier to find your mark? Also, painter’s tape will not leave any residue on your ruler. We all know how expensive fabric is… so keeping cutting mistakes to a minimum is a good thing.

Finally, make sure you are using your rotary cutter correctly to get an accurate strip. The photos below illustrate the difference. If you hold it wrong like in the photo on the left, you will end up with a strip not measuring correctly. And you may also have a cutting accident.

 

Tip #2 – Always Pin!

I know you are tempted to stitch together two small pieces without using pins. However, it’s important to pin to keep the fabric pieces from shifting. One little shift by the top or bottom piece while it is feeding through your machine can cause the unit to not measure correctly because your seam won’t be accurate.

Even if you are chain piecing, it only takes a few seconds to line up raw edges and quickly pin pieces. It’s better than having to “un-sew” a whole stack of units!

Tip #3 – Use an Accurate 1/4″ Seam Allowance

This is an important step in accurate piecing.  I recommend a 1/4″ quilting foot for your machine, like mine below:

If you have this foot, it’s still a good idea to test it. To do this, take 2 scrap pieces of fabric and stitch them together. When stitching, the edge of the 1/4″ foot should line up with the raw edge of the pieces you are stitching. Once you’ve stitched the pieces, use a ruler (as shown below) to measure the seam to determine if your 1/4″ foot is accurate.

If it measures correctly, great! If it does not OR you do not have a 1/4″ foot, you can actually use markings on your machine’s throat plate or use tape to mark where you should line up your piece for a 1/4″ seam. The following steps will show how to do this.

Throat Plate Option: Check to see if your machine’s throat plate has a 1/4″ mark like mine (below left). To use this marking, you line up the edge of your fabric with the 1/4″ mark when stitching. After the seam is stitched, measure it like I showed above to determine accuracy.

Measuring & Taping Option: If you have no markings on your throat plate, here are the steps for measuring with a tape measure and marking with a piece of painter’s tape on your machine to indicate the 1/4″ point. Start by laying the measuring tape under your needle at the “0” line.

This will also help you to measure if the marking on your throat plate is accurate if you have one. (See my little white arrow in the photo above.) Lower the needle by hand to make sure the needle matches up with the “0” line. Then, find the 1/4″ line on the measuring tape. Use this as a guide to place a piece of tape (or determine the accuracy of the mark) on your throat plate.

When stitching a seam, you can now line up the edge of your fabric with the edge of the tape to give you an accurate 1/4″ seam. Once again, use scrap fabric to test your seam. Hopefully by following one of these tips above, you will get an accurate seam.

Tip #4 – Measure, Measure, Measure!

Now that you are stitching with an accurate seam, the final step in having your blocks measure accurately is to measure each unit as you stitch it to make sure it’s the correct size before continuing. For example, if I am making several flying geese units for a block and they need to measure 2 x 3 1/2″ for the block to come out the correct size, I measure all the geese units for the block (like below). That way, when I am ready to piece the block, I know all the geese units measure accurately. That, along with accurate 1/4″ seams guarantee my blocks will be the right size!

So that’s it! These are what I think are the most important tips to help you piece your units or blocks so they measure the size they should be. If you start by cutting your pieces accurately and then use an accurate 1/4″ seam while stitching them, you are guaranteed to get accurate sized units. Because of that, your blocks and ultimately your quilt will go together smoothly! No headaches matching up seams or creating the intended design.

Comment or ask questions about accurate piecing and I will enter you into a drawing for my pattern, Twinkle Twinkle:

This pattern will give you a lot of practice with accurate piecing with all of those flying geese units that make up the stars and borders! The drawing will be on Monday, August 9th.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Rulers, Cutting Safety and Other Tips

Welcome back to my blog this week! It’s the last full week of February and that makes me happy. February was a brutally cold month here in Iowa with at least 2 weeks solid of below zero temps. Hopefully, March will be a bit milder as spring approaches!

This week, I want to talk about rulers. We use them everyday in our quilting but I think I can offer some tips to make them even more useful to you. I also like to talk about fabric cutting safety at the same time since a few years ago, I had a cutting accident… and it was not fun! So let’s get started!

Rulers

My favorite brand of rulers are by Creative Grid rulers because they are clear, they have gripper dots and strips embedded on the back for less slipping and the markings are designed to be easily read no matter which side of the ruler you are working from.

The close up on the right shows one of my favorite things about these rulers. They have gripper “dots”  right on the ruler that help to keep your ruler from slipping on the fabric. 

It’s a great idea to familiarize yourself with all the markings of your rulers because they come in handy while you are quilting. Here’s a few tips:

Tip #1: You can use the ruler to find the center of a piece of fabric or block by using the markings on the ruler. Those intersecting white lines and the circle where they meet is the exact center of this ruler shown below. This comes in handy when squaring up blocks or when you are fussy cutting a piece of fabric.

Tip #2: The 45 degree line comes in handy when you are trimming a half-square or quarter-square triangle square. Place the diagonal ruler line on the diagonal seam of your square to guarantee that you are trimming the square evenly on all sides.

The 45 degree line also comes in handy when cutting bias strips to make bias binding or for making stems for applique motifs.

There is also a 30/60 degree line on most rulers that are used for cutting triangles and diamonds. That’s a whole blog post on it’s own and at some point I will cover those. I tend to avoid designing patterns with those types of angles though… LOL!

Tip #3: Use the extra lines between the 1″ lines to quickly identify where to place your ruler. On the Creative Grids ruler, notice the lines between the inches are different lengths. The 1/8″ lines are slightly shorter than the 1/4″ lines and the 1/2″ line is longer than both of those (see photo below). This helps you find measurements like 2 3/8″ and 3 3/4″ quickly on the ruler.

Early on in my quilting, I didn’t pay too much attention to these lines, but now I see their value!

Tip #4: My final ruler tip is to keep them close by when you are piecing your blocks. I like to keep a few smaller rulers with me by the sewing machine to measure units I am piecing. Accurate unit measurements lead to accurate sized blocks and quilts!

Cutting Tips & Safety

Like I said earlier, a few years ago, I sliced a tip of my left index finger while rotary cutting some strips. Because of this, I am very concerned about safety when cutting fabric. I also have some tips on making cutting easier. First, lets talk safety.

Tip#1: Keep the rotary cutter closed and locked when not in use. This may seem like a simple thing to remember, but you would be surprised how many people have left one open and then dropped it on their foot!

Also, make sure your rotary blade is sharp. A dull blade will cause you to push down harder when cutting which could cause your hand to slip and the cutter to skip across the ruler. 

Tip#2: Use safety items to help keep your hands safe. I use a “klutz” glove and have rotary cutter safety shields on my rulers (see photo below). These are optional, but I highly recommend them to add to your safety. The ruler guard prevents the blade of your rotary cutter from skipping up onto your ruler where your hand is.

The safety shields come only in a 24″ long size for the long ruler, but I bought extra and had them cut to size to fit my smaller rulers.

Tip #3: Keeping the ruler from shifting while you are cutting is also a safety step. A shifting ruler could also send your rotary cutter “off course” and headed for an unprotected hand. Even pressure from your hand holding the ruler keeps it from shifting.

“Tent” your hand as shown in the photos above with your pinkie on the edge to keep the ruler from moving. If you place your hand flat on the ruler, you may inadvertently push the ruler forward. Tenting your hand makes the pressure your are exerting go down instead of forward. When you are cutting a long strip, you may want to stop briefly and move your hand up the ruler so you can keep the pressure even through the entire cutting of the strip.

Tip #4: Make sure your rotary cutter is straight and hugging the edge of your ruler all the way through the cut you are making. You want your rotary cutter straight like in the photo on the left, not slanted like the photo on the right.

Tip #5: Finally, While cutting out a project, it’s a good idea to use the same brand of ruler for all the pieces. Different brands of rulers can have lines of different thickness. Even if they are off by less than 1/16 of an inch, it could cause a problem when you are piecing.

So, that’s it for this week. Leave a comment or any questions below about this topic. I’ll try to answer any question you have. I will draw a winner from the comments and you will receive a Creative Grids 4 1/2″ mini square ruler that you can keep by your sewing machine to measure as you stitch!

The drawing will be on Monday, March 1st. See you next week! **We have a winner. Congrats, Robin McGuire!**

Happy Quilting
Deanne

Fabric Cutting – Squaring Fabric & More Ruler Tips!

Last week, we covered some basics about rulers and fabric cutting safety. This week, I’ll cover some more ruler tips – specifically all those other lines on the ruler that we overlook. Then, I will cover how to square up your fabric. So let’s get started!

Random Ruler Tips

Tip #1: You can use the ruler to find the center of a piece of fabric or block by using the markings on the ruler. Those intersecting white lines and the circle where they meet is the exact center of the ruler. This comes in handy when squaring up blocks or when you are fussy cutting a piece of fabric.

Tip #2: The 45 degree line comes in handy when you are trimming a half-square or quarter-square triangle square. Place the diagonal ruler line on the diagonal seam of your square to guarantee that you are trimming the square evenly on all sides!

Tip #3: Finally, to quickly identify where to place your ruler, notice the lines between the inches are different lengths. Early on in my quilting life I never paid attention to this. The 1/8″ lines are slightly shorter than the 1/4″ lines and the 1/2″ line is longer than both of those. This helps you find measurements like 2 3/8″ and 3 3/4″ quickly on the ruler.

These may seem like simple tips but they are good to remember to help you use your quilt ruler more effectively!

Squaring Up Fabric

Squaring up your piece of fabric is a very important step that should not be skipped. Especially if you are cutting long strips that you will sub-cut into smaller pieces. If you start with a distorted strip, all the pieces you cut from that strip can be off in their measurements. 

When fabric is rolled onto the bolt at the manufacturer, the lengthwise grain of the fabric can end up not being straight. So when you get your cut of fabric, you will need to square it up so strips that you cut from the fabric are not bent in the middle. Here are two strips side by side:

Notice how the strip on the left bends away from the line on the mat and the one on the right does not? That’s why we square up! Because we don’t want strips that are distorted like the one on the left. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Press your fabric making sure to press out the crease from the fold.

Step 2: Line up the selvedge edges of your fabric:

When you have the selvages lined up but your fabric looks “wavy”, like the photo on the left, you need to shift the fabric, while keeping the selvedges lined up, so that it lays flat on the cutting mat (photo on right). Don’t worry if the non-selvage sides of the fabric don’t line up.

Step 3: Lay a ruler along the fabric’s bottom edge, lined up with the fold of the fabric. I use my small square for this.

Now lay your large ruler on the left side and butt it up against the small ruler, while holding the small ruler so it doesn’t shift.

Remove the small ruler while keeping your hand on the large one so it doesn’t shift. Then cut. As you can see in the photo below, the edge of the fabric you cut off is just a scrap.

Now you have perfectly squared fabric! It’s ready for you to cut strips so you can cut the pieces needed for your project. If you are cutting a large amount of strips, you may have to re-square the fabric as the layers can shift slightly as you cut. If it looks to you like the fabric has shifted, perform the above steps again to re-square the fabric. This is one of the reasons why I like to purchase a little extra fabric when I buy. It gives me some breathing room in case I have to re-square my fabric or if I make a cutting error. Below is a mini- tutorial video I did demonstrating squaring up fabric:

So, that’s it for this week. I hope that you enjoyed this post, even if it was only a review of ruler markings and squaring fabric for you. Comment below to be entered in the drawing for my pattern, Marbles & Jacks!

The drawing will be on Monday, July 20th. **We have a winner! Congrats, Lisa Gebel!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Fabric Cutting – Using Rulers, Cutting Safety and Other Helpful Tips!

So now that you have your fabric and you have washed it (or not), It’s time to start cutting for your project! In this post, I’ll talk about using rulers, cutting safety and other tips that will help you to successfully cut out your project.

Rulers

First, let’s talk about rulers. No matter the brand you use, it’s always a good idea to be familiar with all the markings and lines on your rulers. I prefer Creative Grid  (photo on left) rulers because they are clear, they have gripper dots and strips embedded on the back for less slipping (photo on right) and the markings are designed to be easily read no matter which side of the ruler you are working off of.

Cutting Safety

Now for safety! About 3 years ago I sliced off a tip of my finger on my left hand because my rotary cutter slipped and skid off the ruler right into my finger… OUCH! How do we avoid this? Follow the three main safety steps I take now.

First: Make sure your rotary blade is not dull. You know your blade is dull if you have to press down too hard to cut the fabric. Pressing down hard is a way to lose control of the cutter and cause accidents. A good rule of thumb is to replace your blade before it gets dull. I advice testing your blade on scrap fabric before you begin to cut out a project.

Second: Do not ever leave the blade open when you put the cutter down. 

Get in a habit of using that little button on your cutter that closes and locks it every time you put it down. Before you know it, you will be doing it without even thinking. 

Third: I now use a “klutz” glove and have rotary cutter safety shields (see below) on my rulers. These, of course, are optional but I would not work without them. The ruler guard is great because it prevents the blade from hitting you if the cutter happens to skip over the ruler’s edge. Also, the shield is clear so you can still see the ruler markings.

The safety shields only come in a 24″ size so I had my husband cut down an extra one to fit my smaller rulers:

Cutting the Fabric

Moving on to cutting the fabric. Here are what I hope are some helpful tips:

Tip #1: So of course my first tip when cutting is to remember that old adage “measure twice, cut once”. There are times that I have thought I was cutting a 2 1/2″ strip when I really had the ruler lined up for a 2 1/4″ cut … I was in a hurry and didn’t check! Always line up the ruler with the edge of your fabric and double check that your ruler is placed correctly. Also make sure it’s not crooked. I’ve done that too. 

Tip #2: To keep the ruler from shifting while you cut, use even pressure with your hand, not too heavy and not too light.  Also make sure your hand is in the center of the ruler. Even if your ruler has gripper dots on the underside like my Creative Grid rulers.

Also, “tent” your hand as shown in the photo above with your pinkie on the edge to keep the ruler from moving. If you place your hand flat on the ruler, you may inadvertently push the ruler forward. Tenting your hand makes the pressure your are exerting go down instead of forward. When you are cutting a long strip, you may want to stop briefly and move your hand up the ruler so you can keep the pressure even through the entire cutting of the strip.

If you have trouble applying pressure with your hand alone, there are some handy little tools that help you with that. Here is one such tool called the Little Gripper by The Gypsy Quilter.

Tip #3: Make sure your rotary cutter is straight and hugging the edge of your ruler all the way through the cut you are making. You want your rotary cutter straight like the photo on the left. If you angle it like the photo on the right, the blade of the rotary cutter can wander away from the edge of the ruler and your strip will be cut inaccurately. And, of course, always cut away from your body.

Final Tip: While cutting out a project, it’s a good idea to use the same brand of ruler for all the pieces. Different brands of rulers can have lines of different thickness. Even if they are off by 1/16 of an inch, it could cause a problem when you are piecing.

So, that’s what I have for now for rulers and cutting safety tips. Next week, I’ll cover squaring up the fabric, an important step for cutting out straight strips. Leave me a comment below and I’ll enter you in a drawing for my pattern, Marbles & Jacks:

This should give you a lot of cutting experience! The drawing will be on Monday, July 20th. **We have a winner! Congrats, Lisa Gebel!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Handy Cutting Tips and Ruler Use

Darn! November is continuing to be a very cold month! It’s been feeling like January instead. Maybe January will feel like November? I can only hope!

I was cutting out a project earlier this week and thought about some tips I can share. It never hurts to brush up on the measuring and fabric cutting skills, right? I’ll share these tips in this post and hopefully what I share is helpful to you and makes your quilting experience more enjoyable! I’ll also throw in some ruler usage tips to make cutting and other tasks easier.

Tip#1 

That old adage of “measure twice, cut once” is true. I have cut strips before that I though were  2 1/2″ wide only to find I cut them 2 1/4″ wide because I was looking at the wrong line on my ruler! Always line up the ruler with the edge of your fabric and double check that your ruler is placed correctly. Also make sure it’s not crooked. I’ve done that too. I like rulers that have the numbers marked (instead of just having to look for a line) in the middle as well as on the ends so you can check your placement.

Notice on my Creative Grids ruler (my favorite brand), the numbers you want to use are the ones right side up and going right to left on the ruler. I like these markings because I do not have to depend solely on the lines.

Tip #2

To keep the ruler from shifting while you cut, use even pressure with your hand, not too heavy and not too light.  Also make sure your hand is in the center of the ruler. Even if your ruler has gripper dots on the underside (which the Creative Grid ruler does), it can still shift if you are not holding it down correctly. “Tent” your hand as shown in the photo below with your pinkie on the edge to keep the ruler from moving. If you place your hand flat on the ruler, you may inadvertently push the ruler forward. Tenting your hand makes the pressure your are exerting go down instead of forward.

When you are cutting a long strip, you may want to stop briefly and move your hand up the ruler so you can keep the pressure even through the entire cutting of the strip.

If you have trouble applying pressure with your hand alone, there’s some handy little tools that help you with that. Here is one such tool called the Little Gripper by The Gypsy Quilter.

Tip #3

Make sure your rotary cutter is straight and hugging the edge of your ruler all the way through the cut you are making. You want your rotary cutter straight like this:

Not angled like this:

Tip #4:

Make sure your blade is sharp. It’s a good rule of thumb to replace your blade after cutting out a project. Now, if I’m cutting smaller table runner or mini wall hangings, I may cut out 3 or 4 of those before changing my blade. But, if I am cutting out a large quilt, I will change my blade when I am done with that. One way you can tell if your blade is dull is if there are “skips” in the cut you are making or if you have to press down harder than normal when cutting. If that happens, change your blade!

Ruler Tips:

  • While cutting out a project, it’s a good idea to use the same brand of ruler for all the pieces. Different brands of rulers can have lines of different thickness. Even if they are off by 1/16 of an inch, it could cause a problem when you are piecing. 

 

  • You can use the ruler to find the center of a piece of fabric or block by using the markings on the ruler.
  • Those intersecting white lines and the circle where they meet is the exact center of the ruler. This comes in handy when squaring up blocks or when you are fussy cutting a piece of fabric.

 

  • The 45 degree line comes in handy when you are trimming a half-square or quarter-square triangle square. Place the diagonal line on the diagonal seam of your square to guarantee that you are trimming the square evenly on all sides!
  • Finally, to quickly identify where to place your ruler, notice the lines between the inches are different lengths. Early on in my quilting I never paid attention to this. The 1/8″ lines are slightly shorter than the 1/4″ lines and the 1/2″ line is longer that both of those. This helps you find measurements like 2 3/8″ and 3 3/4″ quickly on the ruler.

So that’s it for this week. I hope you find this post informative! Leave me a comment on your cutting and ruler tips. We all learn something new every day! I will be drawing a winner from the comments to receive a Little Gripper tool! 

Drawing will be on Monday, 11/25 so you have time to enter! **We have a winner! Congrats, Joanna Perry!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne