Snuggles Quilts

Snuggles Quilts

MENU

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 – 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

Measure Twice, Cut Once …. and Other Handy Cutting Tips!

Hi all! It’s a very cold and snow covered day here in North Iowa. I am sitting at my computer thinking of what wisdom I could share on any one subject. Instead of focusing on one thing, I came up with some tips on fabric cutting, measuring and such. I’ll share these thoughts in this post that will hopefully have some information that is helpful to you and makes your quilting experience more enjoyable!

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.

I found that’s why I like Creative Grid rulers. So for example if you are cutting a 2 1/2″ strip, make sure the 2 1/2″ line is evenly up against the whole length of the edge. Then you are sure to get an accurate width strip.

Tip #2

To keep the ruler from shifting while you cut, use even pressure with your hand, not to 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. Here’s a side view so you can see the “tenting”:

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.

This tool works with suction and sticks to the topside of the ruler so you can use the handle to apply even pressure and keep the ruler from moving.

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:

If it’s angled in any way, 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.

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!

Final 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. Be sure to close and lock your blade every time you put your rotary cutter down. That is just common sense safety. Rotary cutters can be knocked off the table and if it’s not closed and locked, it can injure you badly.

Also, make sure your fabric is squared up. You may also have to repeat squaring it up if you are cutting a lot of strips from your fabric. I did a post on squaring up your fabric. You can find it here: Fabric Cutting – Tools, Accuracy and Safety First.

I hope these tips were helpful!

Happy Cutting & Quilting!
Deanne