CAS49OR

Raise your hand if you learned to quilt by cutting out all the pieces with scissors and templates. Wow. You’ve been quilting a long time. In fact, chances are good you started quilting before 1979, when Mr. Yoshio Okada, founder of the Olfa Company, introduced the fabric rotary cutter to the marketplace. The Japanese company had been making snap-off blades for other uses (the name Olfa comes from two Japanese words that mean “break the blade”) when Mr. Okada had the idea to develop a rolling cutter. It’s not an exaggeration to say his invention revolutionized quiltmaking, and by the early ’80s, rotary cutters were being adopted by quilters everywhere.

I'm glad I've only "broke the blade" once. It was surprising and scary though!

DogHouseMom

Thanks! Olfa always sounded so Scandinavian to me

CAS49OR

I won an Olfa contest by coming up with a little poem. I think I posted how excited I was to actually win something!
btw Olfa DOES sound Scandinavian!

auntpiggylpn

I did a presentation for my Microcomputers class about 1 1/2 yrs ago. Our topic had to be how technology has improved an aspect of our own life. I did it on all of the technology that has been invented to make quilting easier, quicker and more accurate. I learned (as well as my classmates!) a lot about the Olfa company. Mr. Okada had been watching beautiful silks being cut with scissors and he didn't like how the fabric was being butchered. He wanted it to have nice clean cut lines - thus the creation of the rotary cutter!!!

CAS49OR

Wow, that is great, thank you Mr. Okada! I bet your presentation was great too!

baslp

Thanks for sharing. I learned something new today!

patchsamkim

I can raise my hand that I learned how to quilt with templates and scissors back in the 70's...and remember when I got my first olfa cutter...and how it sat in a drawer for a long time because I was PETRIFIED to use it...no one else I knew had one...I finally did get the courage to give it a try...and then wondered why it took me so long. It totally revolutionized the quilting world!

Didn't know the history of the cutter though before today, so thanks for sharing that with us!!

Quilt Novice

Thanks for sharing!

LindaM49

I happened into quilting by chance in 1999. I knew nothing about rotary cutters. As a scrapbooker I had fancy cut scissors and a circle punch. But never even heard of a rotary cutter. So...my first time cutting fabric was using large scissors and I thought...OMG...what a pain this is. Of course that quilt top still isn't complete due to my mother living us and she was dying of cancer at the time. So...I stuffed everything in a bag where it still is today. Anyway......

I went to JoAnn Fabric for something else and happened to see all of the quilting supplies. I bought a cutter but no spare blades...LOL. Also bought a large quilting ruler. Now I own 4 rotary cutters and at least 4 different sized rulers.

Things sure have changed even in 13 years.

Lori S

I too started before the Rotary Cutter.... It changed everything ... including having special stores just for quilt fabric and supplies.
It is no wonder half cut quilts are frequently found at estate sales. I have even seen lots and lots of boxes of squares in various sizes that just never made it into a top or block .. the cardboard template still with the squares.