Cutting Question
 

Good Morning Everyone, Still newbie and still learning, so many questions pop into my head all the time. I was wondering, when you sit down to make a log cabin quilt, or any 9 patch etc, do you cut many strips before you start and then choose them, or do you just choose the fabrics as you go and cut them as you go? I might be confusing everyone, but let's say I have a nice piece of fabric, should I cut it all into strips to use or some strips and then maybe some squares for another quilt? Do I cut what I need and then just put it away? I am a very structured person and I want to get away from that and make more unplanned scrappy type quilts so they are more colorful and mixed up. I just can't seem to get away from my structured ways of planning a quilt on graph paper and then just using the same fabrics repeatedly in it. I don't have large amounts of fabrics, just what others have kindly shared with me, so I was hoping someone could instruct me better on cutting them??? I sure hope I haven't confused everyone? Thank you so much in advance for any advice you can give me. I am becoming so addicted to the fabrics and quilts I see on here. Have a great day. Rachel

I get coordinating colors together and go from there. I have different boxes of similar color scraps. Like browns/beige/tan in one. Blues in another, reds/pinks, etc. Then I'll look and see which boxes/colors I'll put into the scrappy. Keeps my OCD in check. Otherwise I could sit for hours before I did the first scrappy block.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...e-t135936.html

Hi Rachel--I'm pretty much a newbie also---I've been quilting for about 5 years and slowly learning so much--mainly from this board. I cut my fabrics for whatever pattern I'm doing, but then I cut scraps that would be too small to do anything else with into 2" squares or 3" strips that I'm collecting (for who know's what!). I leave larger scraps intact, to use for applique or small sewing projects. Check out Bonnie Hunter's Blog Bonnie Hunters Quiltville. She's the queen of scrap quilts. She also publishes lots of books of scrap quilt patterns. Also the link I posted above is a Quilting Board thread in the Pictures Forum that's been going on for several years. It's pictures of scrap quilts posted by members. I've been looking at the pictures for months and haven't gotten through it yet, but you can surely get an idea about working with scraps.
It's great that you're looking to stretch yourself "outside the box". That's part of the fun of this wonderful hobby...and this board is so giving and wonderful to help do just that.
Welcome!

I wouldn't precut my fabric. I only cut for whatever pattern I'm making. If you feel like you're making quilts that are too planned out, look for a pattern that is scrappy and go buy small amounts of different fabrics to make it. You don't have to spend a lot , maybe just enough to liven up your stash.

Being very structured myself, I probably won't be much help to you. I would leave larger pieces intact for future projects. As IQ2 suggests, maybe just chop up the smaller pieces for use in your scrappier quilts. This way, if you have a desire/need for a more structured pattern, you have a better chance of having those fabrics available.

I am not one that is much on log cabin but I have done a number of 9 patches. With Eleanor Burns method, you can get two 9 patchs from two 8" square. One is called positive and the other negative. I tweak a lot of pattern to where I am comfortable making them and I cut as a go. You need to find what method you are comfortable with and go with it. Good Luck and just remember to have fun since this is a hobby !!

I do chain piece the parts of my quilts ... but, while I do have the full amount of material needed, I only cut out manageable portions at a time. This being that the first cuts are much less numerous than others. That way if I make a mistake due to being distracted/interrupted and making errors.

I only cut what I need for my planned projects. Any leftover fabric stays whole. Because I never know what my next project will be I don't want to have cut it into strips then have a pattern that calls for larger squares or rectangles. You can always cut it down you can't put it back together!!

Good question and can be done numerous ways depending on your comfort level and predelictions.

For both 9P and Log Cabin blocks to be successful, you need contrast in Value of your fabric. Since you do not have a large stash, maybe you just need to get a few Fat Quarters to add and make it look more scrappy.

I am one that can do all the cutting and then pull from and bag and just sew together. For these blocks I would have two bags or piles. One for light fabric and one for dark. The mediums can go to either one. Not everyone is comfortable with that. So maybe cut a few pieces and put some together.

Whatever I do though, if it is new block, I cut enough for one and make it. Then if I don't like the placement or some fabric in the block I can make a change before I cut up all my fabric.

Even When I make a scrappy quilt like a log cabin I cut as I go. I do this for all my quilts. It would be very hard for me if I discovered I cut an entire quilt wrong after the fact.
peace

I am not a good scrappy quilter. I make a single block of any new pattern, making sure it works and comes out the right size before I cut all my fabric. If I were doing a scrappy, I would probably print a log cabin guide sheet, and then write in what is supposed to be in each block. I would sort as dark, dark medium - then light only or light, then light medium. Write in each section of the log cabin printed guide block which bag or box or pile to pull from, and start sewing.

This is an interesting webpage with some good Log Cabin info and several different pattern sheets in the lower porting of the page. http://www.quilt.com/Blocks/LogCabin/LogCabin.html Use Yahoo or Google to look for ones you want to do.

Since you aren't very experienced, I would think about 2 1/2 inch strips for the logs. That way you can make a fairly large block pretty quickly. Results were and still are very important to me. Too many little pieces and I can get bored with a project pretty quickly. The 2 1/2 inch strips work in a lot of other strip projects so if you cut too many, not a problem, plenty of free patterns out there to use them in.

Quilting is such fun, very aspirating and beautiful, all at the same time. Welcome to our world.

Edited to add: I have seen log cabin blocks made with all brights or all darks, but the log cabin pattern doesn't show up very good. To me, it becomes too jumbled, but then I think the same thing with most scrappy projects I try to do. Quilting is all about what you like and want to do.

I never plan my quilts - they seem to have a mind of their own. When I buy fabric, I usually buy at least a yard. When I get it home, I wash, iron, and then cut a couple of 2.5" strips off the end to add to my stash of jelly roll strips.

Since you are new to this...don't worry about what you " might" make down the road.....if you want to make a log cabin it is usually divided light/ dark strips...., so just start " gathering" a variety of both values......and of course traditionally red was the center...as the hearth/heart of the home..........I suggest getting an Eleanor burns book on log cabin quilts....her directions, illustrations are great.....just relax and enjoy...don't try to do everything absolutely perfect/correct the first time..it is a learning experience...have you looked into your LQS offering any beginner classes...working with others who are " new" can be fun!!!!!!

The answer to this question will change for you the longer you are quilting.
You will have a larger stash. Work toward that end now as you run into fabrics you can add to the stash "just because" you might use it some day, especially blenders and those that read as solids. Over 30+ years I have built a 2-3000 print stash this way, buying 1/2 - 1 yard at a time.

You will have more and more "leftovers" as you complete projects. For example I have stored strips from 1" to 3.5" in separate totes, as well as squares of specific sizes, and "usuable pieces" from odd rectangles to partial fat quarters.

I wait to cut specific strips until the specific project requires them; then again, if I've cut too many, that's cool - they just go into the correct tote for the future.

I have made many quilts, some with up to 30+ fabrics, from just my stash using folded 'whole' yardage and some strips from the totes. If you sort and save 'leftovers' to their most usable sizes, you'll soon be able to do this too. :)

Jan in VA

Just an FYI and someone may have already mentioned this but I wouldn't use my email address as my user name here. It's a public forum and anyone can see it. You will probably start getting a lot of junk and unwanted email.

I agree: cut as you go.

If I am making a "pattern quilt" that I have seen, I cut out all my pieces first. If it is a scrappy quilt, with leftovers, here is what I was taught to do. Cut up all your extra pieces in various sizes, for instance, squares that are 2" or 3" or 4", whatever you decide. Or you might cut up strips in various widths and lengths. I put them into shoe boxes that are marked with the correct size. When I go to put all these pieces into a quilt, I throw them all into a large basket (keeping in mind that they should be the same size) and just grab whatever my hand hits. Then I sew. I used to be very structured and had to have everything lined up. But, a scrappy quilt needs to be just that - Scrappy! Don't worry about the colors matching. Somehow they always look good when I am finished.

This post brings to mind a gigantic mistake I made recently. I have had a pre-cut roll of fabric that I bought at a recent quilt show that my sister and I attended--I forgot what it was called, but a whole roll that was supposed to be used to make a quilt something like 60x76. Anyhow, I would occasionally pick it up and think to myself that it was not a good sized quilt, so I'd put it back down and go on to something else. Also, it was in the new "this year's colors and combinations" and most of the time I am not into that train of thought when I am constructing a quilt In my mind.

Well, one day, the GD said to me "why don't you do something with this Grannie, it is pretty"--so got me thinking, I can cut some 2-l/12 strips and we can make her something out of it. And cut that ENTIRE roll into 2-1/2 strips.

They are now in a small plastic box waiting for me to do something with them.....WHAT?

Normally, I am one to cut, lay out, and sew one strip of the quilt that I am currently working on. Keeps me motivbated, and it isn't too hard to sit still long enough to do one strip of a quilt at a time, 4-1/2 square, surrounded by 2-1/2 x 4-1/2 strip, with 2-1/2x2-1/2 square at each corner of the 4-1/2' square. Get the picture. Turns out great and I can also get lots of laundry, dishes, cooking, reading, napping in between.

Whenever I'm planning my quilt/block, I find out how many of each piece/section I need to make, figure out how many pieces per section/block, pull out the fabrics I plan to use and divide the number of pieces needed by the number of fabrics I'm using. Most times it works for me using this method. The quilt I'm working on right now needed 18 blocks of the 2 blocks within the quilt body. I counted how many darks and lights, pulled from my scraps from the last quilt which I had planned to use anyway, then added more fabrics to fill the need plus a few extras. Since I was making this a controlled scrappy quilt, I laid out each block on my cutting table arranging each piece accordingly so no two blocks looked alike. Then I piled them into separate piles per block in the order they would be stitched on. I put an alphabet pin on the block and a matching pin on the pile so I wouldn't get them mixed up (I'm good at getting confused).

As I stated this method seems to work for me plus I'm using up my scraps too. Next quilt will use the brown scraps from the prior quilt I finished so I was able to use up most all the brown, blue and beige scraps from Quilt #1 on Quilt #2 and #3. The scraps from the Bricks & Stones quilt will be put into another quilt on the chopping block called Imperial Diamonds. Using the CT Mirage collection with some batiks I have.

When I first started quilting, I was a very OCD person about colors and fabrics. Then I started making family reunion quilts where fabrics were sent to me, which I had to use in the quilt. I would cut just a few strips, then cut more as they are needed. It was once suggested that I put the strips/pieces into a brown paper bag and unless it matched the previous fabric, you had to use it; but I've never progressed that far.

I cut enough to make one block to see if I like it. If I like it, then I cut all my fabric first.

I am a scrappy girl and I have thrown my lot in with Bonnie Hunter. She tells you how to cut your scraps to their most useful size. I have huge bins of 1 1/2", 2", 2 1/2" strips. I buy many 1 yd cuts, I cut these 3 sizes and then leave the rest for other sizes or blocks I might need. It has helped me in so many ways. I always have a head start on my quilts. I love making hst, so I do a lot of them in different sizes to have on hand. I recently finished a Ocean Waves scrappy made with 4,000+ 2" hst and I have enough to do another I think. Also just finished a split nine patch quilt and I have lots of 2 1/2" hst.

I am fairly structured, too, but am slowly breaking out of the mold. To help you out, I can suggest two kinds of scrappies to start with because you really can't go wrong.

One is a 16 patch and the second is a string quilt. Youtube has all kinds of videos. Just make sure you have some light fabrics to provide contrast, or your quilt will look busy or dull .

For a string quilt, you don't have to abandon your structured nature (no sense fighting it, just think "expanding your horizons") . Just pick a focus fabric you like and pull colors from that. Of course most string quilts have a common color (often white) that goes down the middle of the block as the first piece. When they're all put together, that white provides a design element .

But you probably know this already. Consider yourself among friends who share your tendency to be structured and yet want to be a bit more loosey-goosey;) .

I'd cut strips the width I needed, then cut the exact length as I went along. But I'd have worked out a layout by color before ever starting. I don't do well with random.

I like to keep my fabric in as large a piece as possible until I know what I'm going to do with it.