I am kinda new to quilting and was wondering......what is the best way to cut a large peice of fabric into say, 4 in. squares? I seem to handle smaller peices fine but usually i take a large one and fold it over and over until its a managable size. This never seems to work out. The peice is never square and somtimes so thick a rotary cutter doesn't go through it very well. Any ideas? thanks.

Tina

Iron the fabric. Match up the opposing selvages (this is how it came off the bolt). Stroke out the fabric so it is flat. Lay the folded edge part of the fabric (where it is folded on the bottom) so that it lies along the selvage edge. The fabric is now 4 layers thick.

If you are right handed, take your ruler and line it up along the left edge of the fabric and cut a strip to make the edge clean (right side of the ruler). Usually this will be about a half inch or so wide. Make sure you have a straight cut from top edge to bottom edge. The ruler will be overlapping the fabric but most of it will be on the table.

Remove the initial strip you just cut. Place the 4 inch measure on the ruler on the clean edge you just cut. Cut along the right edge of the ruler(which is laying on the fabric) so that you now have a 4 inch wide strip.

Take that strip and rotate it (or position yourself) so that it runs 4 inches tall and the long side is horizontal. Again, cut a strip on the left end to get a clean cut. It might be .5 inches or so. Lay the 4 inch measure on the ruler on the left edge of the fabric and cut along the right hand side. You'll have four 4 inch squares. Move the ruler over another 4 inches and cut for another stack of squares, etc.

If you need more, cut more 4 inch strips from the fabric.

Does this make sense?

Tina,

Jezabel's instructions are correct. I have one additional suggestion. Once you have "squared" the rough or bruised edge of your fabric, use two rulers. Use a larger one to the left and then butt a smaller ruler against it to the right, making sure it is 4" toward the top of your cut as well as at the bottom next to your belly. This way you won't disturb the squared edge.

Also, the lines (next to your belly) on the larger ruler should line up with the folded edge of your fabric.

Hope this helps. Suz

Wow, awesome tips to learn how to cut fabric. Thanks as I am a beginner and learning lots of things on this board.

Tina,

You will also find you have better luck with keeping everything straight and square if you cut 4 or fewer layers at a time. I find that I achieve the best results with only 1-2 layers and since you can't piece a perfect quilt (not that mine are perfect by any stretch of the imagination! :oops: ) with imperfectly cut pieces, I don't cut more then 2 layers at a time. I have a "need for speed" that I have found I cannot satisfy with quilting...I can either do fast or good, but I can't do good fast.

If my fabric is very long, I sometime cut it into more managable lengths. There is some waste but these either go into acrap bin or doggie pillow.

i do the same thing. i don't try to cut anything longer than 1 yard. and never more than 4 layers at a time.

I also find using a larger 60mm cutter can help going through multiple layers. The 45mm is ok up to 4, but any more than that you may find you get better cuts with a 60 :wink:

I have gotten to the point where I cut the individual stripes slightly larger than necessary. I generally don't cut any more than 4 layers at a time and I use a smaller square ruler to cut them into the final sections. (That's also when I trim any excess off the one side.)

In the past, I used to spend so much time on each cut and alignment and most often, things didn't go perfectly. So why fret? If it's a 2.5" square, I cut off a piece that is larger than 10" so I get 4 stripes at a time. That is a manageabale chunk for me.

yes, you can do much better with the bigger one.