How to Cut Quilt Squares Using A Rotary Cutter

Perfectly cut quilt squares

Learning to cut quilt squares with a rotary cutter is the first step to creating beautiful quilts. In times past, these were cut by hand with scissors. When you take that into consideration, it is truly amazing the masterpieces those ladies from days of old created.

However, today, we have more sophisticated tools at our disposal for creating those perfectly cut quilting pieces. The standard tools of the trade now are the rotary cutter and cutting board. Both can be found easily at any craft or fabric store, or even in large department stores with crafting sections.

The process is easy and with this tutorial you will soon be knee deep in perfectly cut quilt squares for all your quilting and craft projects.

Things You'll Need

• Fabric of choice
• Rotary Cutter
• Cutting Board
• Quilting Ruler

Instructions

1. Prewash your fabric of choice in warm water, with a mild soap. This helps remove excess dye from the fabric that may bleed on to your finished quilt later. It also resizes the fabric from its first washing. It is much better to have this resizing take place before you cut quilt squares.

2. Press that fabric. Neatly ironed fabric is essential to accurate cutting. Wrinkles, even the small ones, will result in an inaccurate square. The best method for pressing your fabric is to fold the material in half lengthwise. Iron this making sure it is smoothed out well. Then fold it in half again lengthwise and repeat the pressing process.

   When the ironing is complete, you should have a strip of fabric about nine inches wide by about a yard (or however long the original piece of fabric was). Perfect to cut quilt squares from.

3. Prepare to cut quilt squares! Place the fabric on your cutting board lengthwise, so that the end is slightly overlapping the first measure line. Most of the time, the very ends of the fabric are frayed, uneven and unsuitable for your projects. It is best to just remove them.

   With about 1/2" to 3/4" of the end of the material over the first measure line, place your ruler so that it lines up perfectly with the first measure line on your cutting board. Hold it down firmly with one hand. Brace the rotary cutter neatly against the edge of the ruler and pressing down firmly, roll it up the ruler, away from you. It is usually best to always use the rotary cutter in a direction away from your body so as to avoid accidental injury.

   Make sure the blade of the rotary cutter goes through all 4 layers of fabric before removing the ruler. You should be able to gently pull the remnant of fabric away from the ruler with nothing still attached to the bulk of the material. Now you have a perfectly straight edge to start with.

4. Lift the ruler away from your fabric, making sure to keep the new, perfect edge lined up on the first measurement line of the cutting board. To make a 4" square, place the ruler on the 4" line of the cutting board, making sure it is lined up with the corresponding line at the bottom of the cutting board. Now repeat the cutting process from the last step. Continue this process all the way down the fabric at 4" intervals.

   When you have completed this process on the entire piece of fabric, you will have several strips of fabric roughly 9" long by 4" wide.

5. Turn those strips in to quilt squares! Place one of the strips on the cutting board with the folded end slightly overlapping the first measure line of the cutting board. This is the same process as your performed in a previous for getting rid of the rough edge, except this time, you want to get rid of the folded end. Place your ruler on the first measure line, making sure to line it up top and bottom. Again, snug the rotary cutter up against the ruler and roll it away from you, while pressing down firmly on the ruler.

   This will eliminate that folded edge and give you a perfectly straight edge along the first measure line. Your first perfectly cut quilt squares are almost done!

6. Finally, move the ruler to the 4" line of the cutting board, making sure to line it up top and bottom, and again make the cut. Presto! You now possess four perfectly cut 4" quilt squares that can be used in any of your quilting or crafting projects! Continue this process to the end of the strip of fabric and for each strip.

7. You did it! That's a lot of squares! I told you that you be knee deep in quilt squares in no time!

Tips & Warnings

• If you know you will be doing a lot of projects, cut many squares at once to save time later.

• Cut squares can easily be stored in ziplock baggies to keep them neat, clean and organized.

• For every yard of fabric, approximately 96 four inch quilt squares can be cut.

• If the material is not pre-washed before you cut quilt squares from it, the fabric could shrink or distort later when you wash the quilt.

Resources

• Fiskars 45 mm Rotary Cutter
• Fiskars 2-Piece Quilting Set: Softouch 45mm Rotary Cutter and 18