In the quilting book I just bought, it says to use the side of your cutting mat without the lines and use your ruler to measure, as looking at both sets of lines can be confusing. And, use the same ruler to cut all pieces for that project.

You should also measure the lines on your ruler because the width of the increments can throw off a cut. And then, sew a 1/4" seam stitch to make sure it's all matching.

I always measure with my ruler. But whatever works for you.

Thanks, that's just what I was going to suggest. Stay with the same tool all the way through a project.

I used my mat lines at first but switched to only using rulers for exactness. My mat can can tell me that my block is roughly 10 1/2 X 10 1/2 but my rulers ensure my HST are exactly 3" and my flying geese are 3" X 5 1/2", etc.

When a mat gets old, just give it a soaking in water. That will bring it back to life, as cutting boards do dry out and not work as well after time. I read about getting the moisture back into them somewhere but don't remember where. It is surely worth a try. The boards are so very expensive these days.

i line up my fabric on the mat, using a line to get almost straight, then use my ruler on lines projecting out from the fabric to cut....i know i waste a lot of fabric this way, but i always have straight edge....then i use my ruler to measure the pieces i need to cut........very confusing, ehh???

The 'only' time I would use my cutting mat to measure with is if I needed a large block and if it is off a degree here or there it wouldn't matter because that isn't the finished size of the block. I don't use the matt for the same reason I was told to use the same ruler thru out a project; they can be off sometimes and if you are doing small pieces size can make a big difference in the block. I'm not willing to take a chance of it not turning out ok because I measured w/the wrong thing.

As long as you are using the same measuring device throughout your project it shouldn't matter. I personally use my rulers. Not all measuring devices are created equally.

I measure with my cutting mat too. Kind of wish I hadn't got into that habit because the measurements wear off the mats after awhile.

No I don't. It takes too long to line it up. The ruler is so much faster. And those lines are thick. Where do you cut, before the line, in the middle, or the other end. I like that think little line on my ruler for accuracy.

The exception is for wide borders, accuracy isn't needed so badly there