jgriinke

You said you bought a blade sharpener - that may have been your big mistake. I have a couple of them, and I don't find them to really sharpen anything, but the makers pockets! I do like where someone said to take the cutter to the LQS and have them take a look. You just may need a new blade and you will be all set!
Good luck and let us know!

luci4

Are you remembering to expose the blade when you are going to cut? I forget to do do that occasionally.

carolynjo

I'm glad you figured out the rotary cutter problem! When I take mine apart, I lay each part on a towel in the direction it came off the cutter. Then, it is easy for me to put it back together. Best wishes in making progress on your quilts.

DonnaQuilts

Are we related? Ditto.

glenda5253

I feel your pain! I had two surgeries a few months apart that curtailed my sewing and I CANNOT get back in the groove. I don't know what it's going to take to get me motivated again. Dithering sums me up too!

Latrinka

Believe it or not, that is how I started out!

Gabrielle's Mimi

Run, don't walk, to your nearest LQS and take a class. There are so many teachers out there willing to help. You can get help with your rotary cutter (a small thing to fix) and get the motivation to get back to work. Good luck!

yippie

new2q are you sure you are not me, what you wrote is what i go through all the time HAHA!!

wizkid what size of cutter do you have, I have 3 diffrent sizes, the not cutting part i agree with the others is the blade sharp, is it clean (sometimes fabric dust gets behind my blades) I take my blades cutters apart and sharpen and clean them. Also some of my cutters have safteys on them make sure that is off. Hang in their and keep trying. you will be quilting in no time

Rose_P

I agree about the cutter probably not being put together right, but as to the other problem, our quilt guild just had a most inspiring speaker, Lynn Roddy Brown. She said something that made an impression on me, using a term from economics: "Value Added". For a quilter it means that if you make something from your fabric, even if it is not a finished quilt for the time being, you are adding value. On her website she has at least one quilt that sat around unfinished for 5 years waiting for just the right inspiration for the border. She says she doesn't let that kind of delay bother her because she is completing other quilts during that time. She recommended just making blocks that make you happy, even if all you do for awhile is stock-pile them. If you make blocks that occur in many different quilts, such as half square triangles or 4-patches, you will eventually have a bunch of blocks to play with and or swap with others for more variety. Maybe you will be inspired to make a quilt or maybe you will leave them behind some day, but they're worth more than a pile of fabric. Also, if you have a lot of scraps you could spend your fallow time cutting them into squares and strips of various sizes that you can later just pick up and sew, as described by Bonnie Hunter at quiltville.com. If you would rather practice machine quilting instead of cutting and planning, possibly your guild will have pieced tops for charity that are just begging for completion, as our guild does.

Another idea is using scraps to try foundation paper piecing, English paper piecing, or the method described on Cynthia England's website http://www.englanddesign.com/ (no rotary cutter needed). She has a couple of free patterns to experiment with.

You don't say where you are located, but many towns and cities have guilds and shops that offer opportunities to take
classes, share ideas and inspirations with other quilters, and use your quilting talents to do charity work.

AnnieF

Another thought.....are you left-handed? It makes a difference in how you cut and the rotary cutter has to be in the right position against the ruler.