4 pippa45.......sort your fabrics out by colour then fold the material in half, selvedge to selvedge.. then cut whatever widths you are needing... but make sure you cut across the top of the material first to even it up and also at the same time make sure the ruler is straight against the fold otherwise you will get an elbow in each piece of material you cut.... ask me now I know ... LOL.... the teacher pulled me up on that one, but how do you know if no one tells you !!! So a little bit of material was wasted but I learnt the hard way.... good luck.