Rotary Cutting For Quilting Beginners
Successful quilt construction requires precise cutting.
With accurately cut pieces, even beginners can assemble a quilt with ease.
Gaining mastery of a rotary cutting tool can make all the difference in your quiltmaking experience.
With a rotary cutter, you can make accurate cuts through multiple layers of fabric.
One of the strongest appeals of rotary cutting is the precision and speed with which you can cut multiple strips, squares, triangles, and diamonds, thus enhancing your enjoyment of the quilting process.
As with many techniques, the more you practice the easier and more natural the process will become.
Practice rotary cutting on fabric scraps until you develop confidence in your cutting accuracy.
Tool Basics To rotary cut fabrics, you'll need three basic pieces of equipment: a rotary cutter, acrylic ruler, and a cutting mat.
A rotary cutter should always be used with a cutting mat designed specifically for rotary cutting.
The mat protects the cutting surface and keeps the fabric from shifting while it's being cut.
Cutting mats usually have one side printed with a grid and one side that's plain.
To avoid confusion when lining up fabric with the lines printed on the ruler, some quilters prefer to use the plain side of the mat.
Others prefer to use the mat's grid.
The round blade of a rotary cutter is razor sharp.
Be sure to use a cutter with a safety guard and keep the guard over the blade whenever you're not cutting.
Rotary cutters are commonly available in three sizes; a good all-purpose blade size is 45mm.
Many find that lots of rotary cutting makes their back hurt.
Bend at the hip rather than at the waist when rotary cutting to avoid this.
It is easier and puts less stress on your back and arms.
To help you with this, place your cutting mat on an appropriate height table or counter top.
It is also very important to keep the pieces you cut organized.
Consider this as you begin cutting to save yourself time later.
With accurately cut pieces, even beginners can assemble a quilt with ease.
Gaining mastery of a rotary cutting tool can make all the difference in your quiltmaking experience.
With a rotary cutter, you can make accurate cuts through multiple layers of fabric.
One of the strongest appeals of rotary cutting is the precision and speed with which you can cut multiple strips, squares, triangles, and diamonds, thus enhancing your enjoyment of the quilting process.
As with many techniques, the more you practice the easier and more natural the process will become.
Practice rotary cutting on fabric scraps until you develop confidence in your cutting accuracy.
Tool Basics To rotary cut fabrics, you'll need three basic pieces of equipment: a rotary cutter, acrylic ruler, and a cutting mat.
A rotary cutter should always be used with a cutting mat designed specifically for rotary cutting.
The mat protects the cutting surface and keeps the fabric from shifting while it's being cut.
Cutting mats usually have one side printed with a grid and one side that's plain.
To avoid confusion when lining up fabric with the lines printed on the ruler, some quilters prefer to use the plain side of the mat.
Others prefer to use the mat's grid.
The round blade of a rotary cutter is razor sharp.
Be sure to use a cutter with a safety guard and keep the guard over the blade whenever you're not cutting.
Rotary cutters are commonly available in three sizes; a good all-purpose blade size is 45mm.
Many find that lots of rotary cutting makes their back hurt.
Bend at the hip rather than at the waist when rotary cutting to avoid this.
It is easier and puts less stress on your back and arms.
To help you with this, place your cutting mat on an appropriate height table or counter top.
It is also very important to keep the pieces you cut organized.
Consider this as you begin cutting to save yourself time later.
