twinkie

Hi, I am fairly new to the board, however, at our local quilt guild they taught us not to pay attention to the measurements on our cutting mat because they are not always accurate. They taught us that if the measurement on the mat is off by only 1/16", the quilt block will be off because you are multiplying that 1/16" by each piece you cut. Soon you could be off by 1/4" or more. They said to pay attention to the measurement on your cutting ruler. Does this make sense? I have found it to be much more accurate. Hope this helps you.

jolo

yes Twinkie ;you are absolutely correct.

newbee

Believe it or not, I found that my cutting mat measurements were off!! Not too long ago I started using a 36x24 inch Fiskars cutting board, and was using the inch marks to line up my fabric to make cuts. Well, when my blocks were screwy--which has never happened before, I finally measured my ruler against the cutting mat--and found that the cutting mat was off 1/4 inch by the time the mat reached 18 inches!! I measured my cutting ruler against other rulers, and the ruler was spot-on in its measurements. It was the mat that was not accurate!! Grrr. So now I don't use the mat to make cutting measurements, I just use it as a mat.

Stitchnripper

I found like some of the other posts, that I don't always put the line on the ruler on exactly the same place on the edge of the fabric and that makes things off just a bit. I keep trying though!

BellaBoo

I don't think this has been mentioned but it's very important. If your cutting a piece of fabric 4 inches wide then every fourth cut you have to re straighten the edge. 6 inch width cut, re straighten every sixth cut and so forth. At least check to see if it is exactly straight after every few cuts. I always had to re cut to get a straight edge after cutting a few strips. I bought the Go because I was tired of spending time cutting and being frustrated and making it work anyway.

love2sew8085

I don't wash my fabrics on the most part and I get a perfect cut all the time. There is no need to pre-wash fabrics unless you are using flannel (because it shrinks too much) or a really red with a light color just in case. ALL fabric is washed at the dye houses, usually with Tide, before the industrial rolls are sent off to be cut into bolts. Now I have a 99cent/yd store near me that are end cuts from a dress making factory, etc. They do get great quilt & clothing fabrics in but the place is filthy so I wash that fabric before it hits my sewing room! I do notice a difference in cutting and everything with it having been washed.

2livesdown7togo

Probably already covered this, but HST's need to be slightly larger than the square size you want to end up with. Here's a link to some estimator charts:

http://sentimentalstitches.net/instr...res-triangles/

applique

You are measuring with the ruler and not the lines on the mat.....right?

golfer

Someone told me to use a "scant" 1/4 inch seam. Sew a 1/4" seam, then move your needle to the right one notch. This should be a scant. If you are making blocks, you can then square them. I do know what you mean. After I cut one length, I check the remaining material with my ruler to make sure it is square, if not, square it again before you cut another length. I hope that this makes sense. Rulers can move on you when you are cutting. Is the table you are cutting on, flat? I noticed that my cutting board does have a dip in it.

DLM3

I have a question for you- how do you cut your fabric with the Cricut? I have read about it and tried once without success. Maybe you can help me?
Thanks.