Quilt cutting and fabric tips
1- High quality cutting tools is essential to the perfection of your quilt. It also save you so much time, and we all need to make the best out of our precious little time for quilting.
The tow most trusted brands are Olfa rotary cutter and mat and Omnigrid ruler. I The largest Olfa blade (16 mm diameter) has the most use for all type of cutting.
Olfa 24×36 matt is more expensive, but it’s easier to use. This is why: most blocks are cut first by cutting strips from the fabric. This is done by folding the fabric in half lengthwise. Then the fold line is placed on the bottom line of the mat ( measurement 0). The width of this long folded rectangle is about 21 to 22 inches (assume most quilt fabrics are 42 to 44 inches wide). So, if your mat is 24 inches wide, you will be able to see the measurement lines extended past both sides of the fabric, thus you can place your ruler based on the grid lines of the mat.
2- It’s easier to stack 2 to 4 different fabric on top of each other for each cut. The blade has some “meat” to cut on. Besides, you cut your time down by 2 or 3 times.
3- spraying fabric with starch will help to stabilize it. This is good for cutting and also for sewing later.
High quality fabric (often cost twice of fabric you buy at Joann’s) last much longer. Quilts made from average fabrics with regular use and wash last about 5 to 7 years, then it starts to loose its lustrous appearance and shows lots of wear and tear signs. With proper care, quilts with high quality fabric lasts for ever.