A recent thread on rulers reminded me that if you are shopping for a new rotary cutting ruler, look carefully at the lines on it. Some rulers have lines that are rather thick. That can make a huge difference in how accurately your blocks turn out.

I had a beginning quilting student and no matter how hard she tried, she could not get her blocks to turn out the size they were supposed to. We finally realized that the ruler she was using had lines that were about 1/16" of an inch wide. When she lined up the fabric on the edge of that line, each of her pieces was coming out 1/16" short. That might not seem like a lot, but that adds up to 1/8" for each seam, and if there were 4 seams across the block, that would add up to 1/2" short!!!!

Moral of the story - if accuracy is important to you, when shopping for a new ruler, look for one with the thinnest lines possible. And always use the same ruler to cut all the pieces for a project.

Yes I found out the hard way using two to make one quilt top that was a mess and all had to be cut down.

Great advice!! I learned this when I started quilting...use the same tools throughout your project. Even if your measurements come out a little over or under, at least all your piecing will be the same over/under, and your quilt will look right and easier to put together.

Good advice even for experienced quilters since it's sometimes a long time between buying some rulers.

I also made the mistake of using the lines on the cutting mat, and the lines on the ruler interchangably. Then found out they didn't quilte match up! ouch!

Interchanging brands of rulers can cause a problem too...
I try and stick to the same brand throughout a project :D:D:D

it's not only the ruler...when you line up your fabric with the line on the ruler, you must make sure you are consistent
{on WHERE you line the fabric up with the line on the ruler}
this makes a HUGE difference!

Thanks for the reminder!

Great advice

True, true. I decided to stick with one brand of ruler - Olfa happened to be my brand of choice. My husband and boys got me a full set for my b-day and I donated all non-olfas to my Guild Ways & Means table.

Only complaint with Olfa is that some rulers have 1/2 inch allowance added on the end and some don't so you have to pay attention.