Quilt Post 2

Grab a cutting mat (the grey thing with lines on it), ruler (the clear thing with yellow lines and the brand name Omnigrid on it), your rotary cutter (the blue thing), and your fabric.

I tend to use the selvage edge as a guideline to square up my fabric. So take your ruler and cut a straight line using that area as your guide. Make sure you hold the ruler firmly (super firm because you do not want the fabric to move while you're cutting) with your non-dominant hand. I tried to get a pic of this but one of my hands had to hold my camera and press the button. You'll just have to imagine my left hand is securing the ruler. After you've removed the selvage edge, turn the fabric so the side that you just cut is directly in front of you.

For the quilt that I'm working on, I want strips the length of the fabric that are 1.5 inches wide. Using the straight edge you just made as a guide, take your rotary cutter and cut a strip. Enlarge photo by clicking on it if you need to. If you enlarge it, you will also be able to see an Elmo sticker that placed there by a 1 year old Ella that I have cut and recut many times.

When I took a quilting class around a year or more ago, the instructor told me that I cut my material in a weird way. I have no idea what makes it weird (maybe my friend, Kortney, could tell me what it is) or what the correct alternative should be, etc. She just said it was unique and had everyone take a look at my weirdness (just one of the reasons that I did not enjoy her as an instructor). With cutting material in a repetitive pattern like this (where you're just cutting 1.5 inch strip after 1.5 inch strip), you can stack the material like an accordian. I am very uptight about cutting my material and do not use this method. Seems like everytime I've tried to use this method, my measurements are off and I have to redo things way too much.

I'll need a ton more of those strips for my pattern. We will pin together/sew some of these 1.5 inch strips next time.