A question for quilters

funkymonkey849

I'm starting my first quilt out of scrap fabric. I'm going for a simple design, 6 inch squares surrounded by a white border.

I bought a rotary cutter and self healing mat which is great but I am struggling to cut the squares out accurately! I'm using a template and it sometimes shifts slightly.

Most of my squares are pretty accurate now but I still get the odd one that's slightly out - only by about 1mm, 2 at the very most.

Is this accurate enough or should I just use the very perfect ones? I don't want to waste the fabric, but I don't want to ruin my quilt either!

funkymonkey849

Anyone?

LJM

me personally if it is that little an amount i would say it would be ok

meritaten

I am not a quilter so I may be wrong in this. but dont you iron a seam allowance before stitching? if you use your accurate template then - when you iron your seam allowance, you can use the template to ensure the square is accurate, and any difference is then in the seam allowance (if you see what I mean?).

Hardup_Hester

On 6 inch squares you should be ok. I make quilts & I always make them with big squares as I'm not accurate enough to use small shapes.
Hester

ChocClare

I am well-known for my inability even to cut out the most basic of shapes with any accuracy

As a result, what I do now is to cut out my squares with a rotary cutter without worrying too much about whether it's out by a millimetre or two.

I then produce my secret weapon - A Piece Of Cardboard Cut To The Finished Size Of The Square. I put this on each square I'm going to sew and draw round it. Even I can pin two drawn lines together and sew them so they meet. I find unless you're using very pale/white fabric, you can even draw this on in felt pen (as long as it's washproof). You're going to be stitching along that line anyway.

Also, if you stitch a row at a time - ie sew each of your going-across squares (note my cunning use of technical terms) and then sew two rows of said squares together, you can generally e-a-s-e the seam so all the corners meet up. Finally, provided your pattern allows, if you have a row of squares and the corners do not meet up with the row above, try turning your loose row round the other way. It's amazing how a millimetre or so in the stitching line means that the squares join beautifully one way and miss by miles the other...

*zippy*

If your template is plastic you could try to make it less slippery by making yourself some small sandpaper dots and attaching them to the back of the template as long as your fabric isn't going to snag etc. Make sure you don't try to cut too many layers at once as well.

I often do as ChocClares says though and check the finished size, starting quilting I realised I'm a bit of a "that will do" type of person so I wouldn't waste what you have cut unless they are really out, use the stretch of the fabric to ease into place, if you really stretch them the quilt doesn't lie flat, but you do have a bit of give.

hart44

I used these on the bottom of my templates and rullers to stop them moving

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/36-Prym-Fabric-Grips-Patchwork-Rulers-Templates-/170628073604?pt=UK_Crafts_Sewing_Supplies_MJ&hash=item27ba39c884

funkymonkey849

Thanks everyone!

Those stick on dots look great but I think I will try the sandpaper idea first as I already have sandpaper in the house so it will be very MSE :money: