cutting Archives - The Sassy Quilter

Ask Sassy! Asking Sassy quilting questions…

Ask Sassy!

Hey guys! Do you have lots of quilty questions you are dying to know the answers to? But…. are afraid to ask? or don’t know who to ask! Feel free to ask Sassy(me,lol) anything you want to know and if I don’t know, then I will do the research to find out!

Leave your question in the comments or email me if you prefer to be anonymous:)

This weeks Quilting Question….

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Why when I’m piecing my blocks why does it never line up right? Everything seems off a little.

This is a great question! There are lots of reasons why things get a little off when doing our piecing. Here are 3 of the big ones:

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•Cutting– you really do have to take your time and make sure you are cutting accurately

•Seams– The infamous 1/4″ seam, Really practice getting this right, do some test pieces on your machine because each one is a little different. You can also buy a 1/4″ foot for your machine that helps a bunch. Check those out HERE. WHY??? If each seam is 1/8″ off… by the time you finish a row you can be a couple inches off! They add up quick.

•Pressing– pressing correctly and not stretching your blocks out helps a lot too.

SO………………

We all want to be perfect quilters, but their actually is no such thing! The truth is it takes some time and efforts to be a great quilter. I’ve been quilting for 12 years and to this day I still get things “off a little”. It is said that the Amish leave at least one mistake in their quilts to prove that only God is perfect. That makes me chuckle because if I only had one mistake left it would be pretty awesome! Some mistakes I see and choose to fix if I can and some I don’t even see till I’m done, lol…..

But did you have fun????

YES!!!

I base my quilting on a precision to fun ratio! If my attempts at precision are bringing my fun level down too low …. its no bueno! For me, I need to be enjoying what I’m doing and if I’m stressing myself out, then I have lost my enjoyment. Now don’t get me wrong… there are lots of quilters out there that are obsessed with precision and it IS their kind of fun, so let them go get it:) There is no need to compare ourselves, in life or in quilting. So just have fun and what you don’t get right in this quilt, you can try harder in the next one!

So just pick one thing at a time to focus on upping your precision.

And remember, Keep your fun ratio in check!!!

Happy Quilting Sassites!

Keep it Sassy♥

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So You Wanna Make A Quilt… Part 4 – How to Cut Fabric

Part 4- Cutting

It’s time to get to cutting….are you nervous?

Well, you are not the first! There are a few things you need to know about how to cut fabric safely and accurately. Once you have got those down….piece o’cake.

I don’t want to scare you, but rotary cutters are super sharp and are the leading cause of quilting accidents(okay, that may or may not be true, but they say 98.7% of all statistics are made up*wink*!). I think this mostly comes from carelessness. So how can you avoid accidentally cutting yourself?

#1- Keep the saftey lock on when not cutting…yes, this means between every cut! Bumping it into the floor could cost you a toe, ouch! Wearing shoes is not a bad idea either.

Safety On…

Safety Off…

#2- Keep your fingers away from the edge of the ruler. Look across the line where you will be cutting before you slice, you might just notice a finger that’s a little too close:) You can also use a safety glove designed for rotary cutting on your non-dominant hand just in case.

#3- Cut away from you. Resist the urge to do all kinds of arm twisting instead of rotating the fabric or ruler:)

#4- Change your blade often to keep it sharp.

#5- Use a good acrylic ruler! HERE is my post on rulers to learn how to use and pick a good one.

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Now…How do you actually go about cutting the fabric? I’m going to show you how by cutting 2 1/2″ strips from a fat quarter. To start you will need your ruler, a rotary cutter and a rotary cutting mat.

Rotary cutters come in several sizes. They are referred to by their blade size. A 28mm cutter is for small or tiny projects, but the most common are the 45mm and the 60mm. The 60mm is larger and can cut through bigger stacks of fabric. The size rotary cutting mat you want is up to you. If using a smaller mat, you may have to fold your fabric to be able to cut it. Your mat should be placed on a hard flat surface. TIP: Do Not Iron on your mat!!! This is a rookie mistake and will warp your mat and it will be pretty much ruined.

Press your fabric. All those wrinkles make it hard to get accurate cuts. Using spray starch stiffens the fabric and keeps it nice and crisp. I use Mary Ellen’s Best Press.

You will notice that the edges are not exactly straight. These always have to be “squared up” before you can start cutting your pattern pieces. You also have to trim off the selvedge edges on your fabric.

To square up the edge…slide your ruler across the fabric and find a line to cut on that will make a nice even cut across your entire piece of fabric. Make sure you are lined up with the markings on the mat on both ends of the fabric. Here I had to come in about 1/2″.

With your fingers spread apart(but not over the edge!)… apply firm pressure to the ruler.

Take the safety off of the rotary cutter and run it along the edge of the acrylic ruler, keeping pressure against the ruler as you go. Pushing too hard against the ruler can make it slip. When cutting you should be standing and to the left a little(if you are right-handed) so that your cutting hand can naturally extend straight forward and not at an awkward angle. There you go! A nice clean edge.

To cut the width of our strip we will be using the markings on the ruler rather than the ones on the mat as our guide. Rotate your fabric so that your clean edge is on the left(if you are right-handed). You can still line it up with the markings on the mat, but you don’t have to worry about the numbers. Just do it in the center so that you have more room. We are cutting at 2 1/2″, so line the square edge we just cut with the 2 1/2″ line on the ruler. Now, cut the other side of your strip.

Beautiful! You can trim the top and bottom edges to get your desired length according to your pattern.

What happens if you are cutting along and your rotary cutter slips to the right???

No worries! Re-square up your edge just like you did initially. Slide the ruler over to cover the oops and get a new clean edge. If your ruler slips and you cut into the strip area…well, you will have to toss that strip and start over.

What if you are not cutting a fat quarter, but are cutting fabric off the bolt that has a fold in it?

The procedure is the same, just line your fold up with a line on the mat before squaring up the edge on the right.

When you cut your strip width, use one of the horizontal lines on your ruler to keep the folded edge straight. If you have to fold your fabric because your mat is small…try not to fold more that once and keep the fold neat. If the folded edge of the fabric is not kept straight and even, you will get strips that are slightly “V” shaped and a little wonky. As a beginner, you should open up your strips and check to see if you are cutting accurately. Measure the width of your strip at a few different points to check.