Clay

Do we have a dumb question section for beginners? How to square up and cut fabric with patterns.

If the pattern has a small checkerboard or polka dot pattern and you cut it like the below video shows and the pattern isn't square to the fabric being square, is that an issue?

I know that I didn't say that very well. After squaring should the lines of polka dots be square too? I hope that you get what I am trying to ask.

I watched a Leah Day video on squaring here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcpzwJMVTbc

PaperPrincess

This is all dependent on the 'look' you are after. I am weird and HAVE TO cut my stripes, dots, repeat prints, plaids etc. exactly on the print. But that's just me (I usually don't buy them I obsess so much!). Although the ideal is to cut the fabric exactly on grain, cutting along the print usually won't skew it too much. If it's really printed off, I starch the fabric before cutting.
If you look at the quilts in the pictures section, you can see that most folks don't share this view. It produces a quilt pattern that's a bit less ridged.

ManiacQuilter2

I agree with PaperPrincess. I can NOT understand why plaids or panels can not be printed SQUARE! No, there isn't any section for beginner quilters.

I carefully cut plaids so the print follows the cut line as much as possible. It is just sometime you learn as you go along. Directional prints I always consider which direction to cut. Good Luck.

Tartan

I don't buy a lot of directional prints. Sometimes you can cut with the grain lines to square the strips, rows of dots or plaids but sometimes they are printed off grain. There isn't much you can do about directional prints that are printed wrong but cut your pieces the way they suit the pattern the best.

Clay

Do you find it less of a problem with higher end fabric? In other words if you buy fabric from Wally World do you find that the prints are off of square more than the fabric you buy from the quilt shops?

Prism99

Not really, because it's easy for fabric to get skewed when rolled onto its cardboard. Directional fabric from any source can have this problem. I avoid directional prints when buying fabric. However, I do not obsess with the pattern being squared after cutting. There are even quilting books out there that point out how skewing plaids creates a more interesting quilt. I agree with that; however, I find that small polka dots and some stripes just do not "play well" when cut any which way.

cjsews

I kind of like the wonky lines. It seems a little more comfy homey feeling. And there are no dumb questions here. We have just asked sooner than you as a newby. We were all there at some point

Dina

There isn't a beginners section, but do not worry about asking questions here. This is where the answers are and the quilters here don't mind answering. When I began quilting 5 years ago, I had tons of questions, and there were always answers....and soon. I remember the first time I tried to change the blade in my rotary cutter. I had taken it apart and not paid attention to what I had done. I was panicky but within 2 minutes someone soothed my mind and told me how to put my rotary cutter back together.

The point is, we all started once and we all had questions. Ask away!

Dina

Clay

Thanks everyone for the answers. Much appreciated. I did find the Leah Day early video interesting, but needed to know about how the directional patterns fit into this whole thing.

I've increased my vocabulary during this thread: "Directional Patterns"

Bree123

I did use small polka dots in my current quilt. I squared up the fabric & then cut strips & then squares from the strips. The polka dots were straight. It really just depends on how carefully the fabric was printed. It works with some prints & not with others.