Quilt in a Day Forums

No matter how careful I am with my cutting and sewing I always seem to come up short. I have always double checked my measurements and I have drawn a 1/4 seam line but when it comes to squaring it up I always seem to be off. Help what am I doing wrong?

You are not holding your tongue right. LOL LOL Serioiusly, are they just a little off or a lot off?

I am making a quilt that requires 109" long sashing strips. What is the best way to cut pieces this long? The longest straight edge I have is 24" long. Any ideas?

Barbara668 - To cut the fabric lengthwise 109" I would iron the fabric, clip and rip off one selvage, then line up the straight edge with one ruler the amount of the strip width (such as 2-1/2"). Butt your 24" ruler against the first ruler, move the first ruler and cut, repeating the process until you have 109". Hope this makes sense.

Welcome to this forum. You might get some better ideas when other quilters see your post. Good luck and come back here often.

cindy your instructions are perfect. i couldn't have said it better. once you've washed, dryed, ironed your fabric, are you trying to cut the strip with the fabric completely unfolded? that could cause it to be off. what i do is never let your fabric be as long as your longest ruler, preferably your 24" by what is it, 4" wide? then follow cindy's instructions. that should make it easier. make sure you fold your fabric so it lays flat and isn't off, or you'll have trouble there too. rofl, i just sent my son to the shop to grab a couple spools of hand quilting thread for me, we shall see what he returns with. (i did send the current spool with him). Brandwynn

barbara - how about just piecing the 109" border w/strips cut on the crosswise grain? Unless you have a border print or just want it lengthwise for some reason. And if I were you, I would cut a few extra inches for "insurance." Any time I tried to cut my borders to the exact length, I came up short, so I stopped doing it. And I don't ever have "ruffly" borders or quilts that are out of square.

I saw this on Fons & Porter the other day.

If you are cutting a 2 1/2 strip for example,fold your fabric, make sure the fold is straight. Instead of cutting exactly 2 1/2 inches, go in from the end an extra 1/2 to an inch then cut. You have one straight cut side. You then turn your piece over and cut the raw edge if this makes sense. I was having alot of trouble getting a good even cut. I tried this and it worked perfectly for me.

Brenda

Hi Im a newbee on this site. I also have trouble cutting. My cuts are never straight. Does your blade have anything to do with it?

gaga, when was the last time you put a new blade in your rotary cutter? It could have something to do with it, especially if you have to "saw" back & forth to cut thru the fabric. Are you cutting on the right side of the ruler (if you are right-handed) and keeping the blade snug against the side of the ruler? Are you cutting away from you and not toward? Are you holding the ruler snug all the way to the end of the cut & not letting it slip? Try walking your fingers along as you go up to make sure that it doesn't slip. Are you standing up or sitting down? All of these things can affect the straightness of the cut.

I make sure the ruler line is completely on the fabric, not off the fabric. The lines are thin but that scant measurment makes a difference. If you cut and not notice if the ruler line is on or off the fabric, you will never have exact cuts.