Rotary cutting or scissors?
 

Which do you think gives a more accurate cut, rotary cutting or scissors?

I'm asking because a few months back I did some serious purging of everything I own, fabrics and sewing supplies included, and gave away a few of my larger mats. At the time, I was so tired/bored/frustrated with quilting and during the purge vowed never do it again. Of course now there is someone that I'd like to make a quilt for but don't have the larger mat and am wondering if I should buy another or try scissor cutting. Time wise it would take longer, but what about accuracy? Any thoughts either way?

oh, and just to make things easier, JoAnn's mats and cutters are 50% off thru the 20th. Imagine that. :)

For straight, long cuts ( cutting yardage, long cuts, straight cuts) for me rotary cutting is faster and more accurate.But, certainly not mandatory. Before the rotary cutter became a ( staple) in our tool kit thousands and thousands of quilts were created using only scissors.... And, can certainly be as accurate ( or more accurate). Using a rotary cutter doesn't guarantee precision, many bad cuts are made with them. Scissors work just fine. You don't have to buy special tools to make a quilt. Scissors, pins, needles and thread and, fabric of course is really all you need.

Must have been a senior moment.Rotary is more accurate if you use cutter correctly.

I can't begin to imagine cutting pieces with scissors. Of the two, I'd overwhelming advocate for rotary blades and a very good, accurate ruler.

But I never realized until last year, how much more accurate die cutting is. I have an AccuQuilt Studio and it's completely changed my cutting regime.

You can buy precuts. There are lots of patterns using those and your cutting will be minimal. Scissors and rotary cutters are my will use if I have to tools. I use a die cut machine for 95% of my fabric cutting.

I think rotary cutters and rulers are much more accurate. But use scissors if that is what you have---I would stick to a simple pattern with larger pieces however.

Id buy precuts and join them as they are far more accurate than scissors would be. Perhaps a purchase of a board and rotary cutter if you enjoy the process again. If you lived closer you could borrow mine.

I quilted before the rotary cutter was born and I get a much more accurate cut with a rotary but you can try it and see how it works for you. Could you borrow from a friend??

Rotary, for sure!! The little bitty blade will cut curves perfectly. I've got all sizes.

Depends what kind of quilts you make. I do very little piecing & lots of appliqué. I'd rather live without a rotary cutter than without my shears & embroidery scissors. You certainly can make lovely quilts without scissors. Any quilts made before the 1970's were made with scissors. It's not as fast & can be slightly less precise, but it's definitely do-able. You can make templates out of cereal boxes to help maintain consistent, accurate piecing. If you mostly do piecing, I'd go with the rotary cutter for sure. It's very thin & doesn't squeeze the fabric like scissors do.

Be careful with precuts. Quality precuts are a great deal, but there are dreadful ones too. My DD picked up two rolls of a cute fabric that was cut so poorly I almost pulled my hair out! Uneven between strips and even on the same strip, bumps in the middle, etc. I have never had a problem with Moda precuts, and people say the same about Missour Star and Connecting Threads. They can save a lot of work though!Eta: autocorrect errors!

I rely on my rotary cutter more so than regular scissors. I even picked up the picking blade for when I work on apparel patterns. I like the pinking edge on my clothes though I eventually serge the seams down the road.

Buy and use BOTH. I use my rotary cutter to cut any project using fabric not just quilting.

I also quilted long before hearing about rotary cutters and mats. Cutting with scissors was a bummer. With machine quilting and rotary cutters all is much faster and more accurate. Learning to use a rotary cutter was a bit hard, I use to cut the edge of ruler but now am very adapt at it.
I got my first cutter and mat in the early 90s. I only use scissors to trim my quilt tops and if I have enough space I use an old rotary blade.
Do what you feel is best for you.

I used to be very anti-rotary cutter and would only use scissors and my own made templates. But once I switched over my life was sooooo much easier. I've found the with a rotary cutter you can get a more accurate cut much faster. One sucky thing about rotary cutters though is it is a lot easier to cut yourself. I cut my hand open in January with one and had to get 5 stitches.

I would make use of the sales and coupons. Just be done with it and buy the rotary cutter and mat. You will be glad you did. That way you will have and don't ever give it away again. I almost got rid of my sewingand quilting supplies a few years ago and am so happy I have. Like anything else better to have it and not need it as to need it and not have it. You can always use your rotary, mat and rulers for other projects. I use my rotary to rip seams out of jeans. I just pull the fabric back and have at it. Just splurge for the right tools. you'll be a lot happier. Less frustration if the cut isn't accurate with scissors and not all purchased precuts are the same size. Easier to square up with a rotary and ruler and cutting mat.

Always use a safety tool when using a rotary cutter. That is as automatic for me as buckling the seat belt in a car.

I agree with Tessagin and would go buy the rotary cutter again. Since you are thinking about making another quilt who knows if the bug will grip you again and it doesn't take up much room. My husband uses one to trim photos he prints. (He has a printer for photos.) You never know when you want to trim things. You can get a mid-size mat and keep it on the bottom of a drawer and get the plastic cover for the cutter and it won't take up much room.

Definitely rotary cutter for long cuts. Since you are thinking a bigger mat, I'd go with the rotary cutter. To me it's a basic, I only use scissors for cutting off flippy corners and threads.

Mary, no it wasn't. I had a couple of bins of fabric that I had accumulated and different sizes of mats and felt that by having all that I was obligated to make quilts and I started to not enjoy it at all. By giving all but one mat away (12x24) and I did keep my cutters, that pressure of *having* to quilt was released and this feeling of *wanting* to make a quilt is back. Maybe. lol

I didn't think of this, thank you!

I've wondered how that would work on apparel - sometimes my pinking shears are just to big to get into the smaller seams of the clothes I sometimes sew for my grandson or for dolls.

Update: I did stop at JoAnn's to purchase the 24x36 mat, but they smelled so bad! I had forgotten that. By the time I had finished walking around the store, smelling the mat along the way, I decided to stick with my 12x24 that I kept and go from there. And, if I decide that I really don't want to continue making quilts, I won't have something else I rarely use, which was another reason why I purged in the first place.

Thank you all though, I'm glad I asked!

Over time I have cut lots of things wrongly with my rotary cutters. I have cut lots of things properly with scissors. With scissors the time drag is the need to mark everything with a pencil or other marking device. How about just buying a small mat and medium size rotary cutter. Use scissors to cut yardage into manageable sizes or use precuts and subcut with the small equiptment. Then, if the quilting bug bites again, invest in a larger board. I used to store one under the bed when not in use.

I'd say accuracy is in the hands of the holder! With my shaky mitts, scissor cutting would leave me with waverly edges and that would be so much fun to get an accurate quarter inch seam on.....NOT!

I just used a moda precut and there were quite a few wonky v-cut strips in the pack so precuts do no mean accuracy

Like Dolphyngyrl I've had precuts, even from supposedly high-quality manufacturers, that were amazingly inconsistent even within the same package. I've just finished piecing the blocks for a Sugar and Spice quilt using a combination of my own Precuts (made from my scraps) and commercial charm square Precuts from Moda, Tonga Treats and Riley Blake-- I had to spend a lot of time trimming the commercial precuts because they varied as much as 1/4" in size in some cases within the same package. I had to unpick a number of elements before I realized that the reason I was having a hard time getting corners to match up was that not all of the commercial 5" squares were actually 5" square.

I make my own precuts out of scraps using accuquilt dies for 2" and 3.5" squares, and a rotary cutter for anything larger. I started quilting before rotary cutters were invented and only made a couple of quilts because I got so frustrated with using scissors and templates partly because it is slow, but also because I've never mastered scissor cutting LOL. When I discovered Rotary cutting I got back into quilt making.

Rob

Personally, I would go with rotary cutting rather than using scissors, although they have a place in our quilting world. Last year I convinced my DH that because of my shoulder issues, had right shoulder replaced a year ago and now just tore the rotator cuff on my left shoulder, so surgery is in my future; so he surprised me by buying the Fiskars ruler and cutter. I love it - while I still use my other rotary cutter for some things, when I'm going to be doing a lot of cutting, I use that ruler and cutter because you just put your hand on the handle and push, no muss, no fuss, and no issue with carpal tunnel.

Well at my age I started quilting using scissors and I would never go back to that way of cutting. I almost stopped quilting as so much cutting took so long and was painful with my RA. Thank goodness for all the toy's we have today that make quilting so much better and more fun.

I remember when the rotary cutter was introduce in the USA. I saw it at a show and thought it was clever. the man sold out in a few minutes, he couldn't take the money quickly enough. I had made about 100 quits by then by hand cutting with a scissor, and hand quilted the quilts too by hand. For straight lines, i'd go with the rotary cutter. things like birds and hearts, by scissor.

I took my first quilting class from a teacher who insisted that handmade was the only way, so I made pillows and
pieced and quilted by hand using scissors and needles and thread. I did sew the pillows together using my sewing
machine and was scolded for that ! It was 15 years before I tried again. Then came he rotary cutter!!

I have never used scissors and handpiecing again.... I have a much happier time now !

rotary cutting