1st Quilt Ever -- CUTTING!!

Here are my fabrics! I'm in love!!


Okay, let's talk cutting.

Rotary Cutters are SHARP. I cut myself with one 15 years ago. It was not pretty, and there is still slight nerve damage.
BE. CAREFUL.


You want to set up your cutting mat in a place where you can get around three sides. You want to always cut away from yourself -- never left-to-right across your body, towards yourself, etc. I put mine on my kitchen table.


Basic cutting tips:
Place your fabric against a line on your mat. Extend your ruler over the top...


...and bottom edge of your cut, aligning the edge of your ruler with the line on the mat. (This is why that longer ruler and longer mat are SO handy!)


I lay my forearm down on my ruler (since it IS so long) to keep it from slipping. Check your ruler again to be sure it is still lined up, and make SURE your fingers are out of the way! Cut, starting at the bottom (closest to you) and ending at the top (farthest from you). Easy!


Okay, on to cutting OUR fabrics!


My instructions are with the school of thought,

"Easier is Better -- Nothing Bad has Ever Happened in All The Times I've Done It This Way!"

(If I were a cross-stitcher, I would cross-stitch that little quote and hang it on the wall in my sewing room!)


There is a lot out there on the web about grainline and how to find it, how to straighten it, and how to cut the RIGHT way when considering your grainline. Don't get me wrong -- the grainline IS important.

But maybe not AS important in a quilt as in an article of clothing!


Here's how we will cut our fabrics:

I start with my fabric folded as it was on the bolt. (I hear the gasps!)
(If your fabric is wrinkled, press it. Wrinkles make for very bad cuts! Keep it folded when you press, but do not press the foldline.) I DO check to see if my fabric is folded on-grain. It's usually right on, or at least "close enough!" I line up my fabric as shown in the photo, with the fold lined up exactly on one of the lines of the mat at the left.

A quick thought on the fine ladies who cut fabric at the store. Most are good. Some are notoriously bad. (There are a few I recognize and try to avoid when it's my turn to have my fabric cut!) If you are starting with a bad cut (i.e. you didn't get the full amount of fabric you paid for), it can be EXTREMELY frustrating. I even had a few bad cuts in my current batch of fabric -- which is from one of my favorite quilting shops! I even ended up taking one of the cuts back -- it was simply unusable!

Here is what to check: You want the top edge of your fabric to slightly overlap a line. Check to see that both layers of your fabric are overlapping just a tiny bit -- you are going to re-cut that line perpendicular to your fold. On your 1/3 yard cut (which is what I have shown in the photo), be sure you have a full 12" of fabric. If not, take it back and complain! :o) You will also re-trim the bottom edge. Make sure both layers of fabric are overlapping that bottom line, too!

For your two 1/3-yard cuts of fabric:
Trim the top edge first. Then go down 6" and cut, creating a 6" strip. Then down 6" more to cut a second 6" strip.

Aaaaaannnnnnd..... I've screwed it up already -- on the FIRST cut of my quilt!! Measure TWICE, cut ONCE, ladies!! I cut a 5" strip instead of a 6" strip! BLAST!! Back to the store to buy more!!

(Pretend you see two rows of the same thing here! I have scooted the squares around so you can see where I cut.)

Move away your top and bottom trimmed bits. Don't disturb your two 6" strips!

Starting 3" over from the fold, make your first vertical cut. Then cut in 6" increments for the remainder of your two strips. You will end up with a total of fourteen 6" squares. Repeat for your other 1/3-yard cut of fabric.

Here's your 3" cut unfolded -- a 6" square!

Now for your 1/4-yard cuts.

Line up your fabric with the fold at the left, lined up on one of your mat lines. (Make sure you have a full 9" of fabric to work with!) Trim the top edge. Go 6" down and cut. Go 3" down and cut. You will have a 6" strip and a 3" strip.

NOW, move your 3" strip out of the way! If you want to go ahead and trim off your selvages, just scoot it down a little bit and trim them off. Use your ruler and be sure to cut them off squarely! Set your strips aside -- they will be used later for your binding and for the pieced strip on the back of your quilt.

You will then cut your 6" strip into seven 6" squares, the same way you cut your squares from your 1/3"-yard cuts of fabric.


This is my little pile of waste -- no scraps! :o)


When all your cutting is done you should have eight 3" strips and 84 6" squares! YAY!!!


(Is anyone making the simpler version using Fat Quarters? Need help with that cutting? Let me know if you do!)

UPDATE: Here's a link with instructions for cutting the fat quarter version!