Cutting Diamond Patches

Cutting diamond patches for quilts used to be a big pain for me.

Not wanting to drag out a compass, I’d spend hours looking for the right size diamond to use as a template – or to create a cardboard template.

Once the plastic template market expanded, I tried several different styles of templates that were supposed to make diamond patches.

Alas, none of them worked all that well, so I went back to my cardboard templates.

Then a while back, Jan Krentz came out with her diamond template for use with rotary cutters, and I really love it.

It is easy to figure out how to use, and you can make a ton of different size diamond patches using the template.

I used her book in along with the template to create the center star for a simple wall hanging:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/6035-diamond-templates.php

 

Prewashing Fabric for Quilts

You wouldn’t think that there would be so much controversy about a simple subject.

Yet, there is – -

The subject: washing your fabric before you start cutting it up for quilts.

Just a few years into my quilting, a teacher in a workshop told us to prewash our fabric.

Frankly it had never occurred to me.

We never did that when we were sewing clothing, so why quilts?

I’m still not sure what the answer to that question is, but I do know that most of my fabric is washed after I get home from the fabric shop – even before I fold it up and put it on the shelf.

Yet one day I was talking to a quilter who said she had heard some “knock down” arguments among quilters about prewashing their fabric.

As she explained both sides of the issue, both sides made sense.

What is interesting is that a while back, I was talking to a gal at Hoffman Fabrics who had the “official” Hoffman position.

Her answer surprised me:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/1067-prewash-hoffman-fabrics.php

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Cutting Patches with Scissors

Yes, there are still some who would like to cut their fabric patches using scissors.

Whether they are squares, triangles, or more intricate shapes like circles, hexagons or diamonds, there are a few things to keep in mind when you are working with scissor cut patches.

One of the most important is that you can’t really count on the raw edges of the patches to give you an accurate sewing line.

You’ll see how to get around that when you visit:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/5104-hand-cutting-patches.php

Mark the sewing line on your patch before you cut

 

Sewing Triangles and How to Quilt Weekly News

Quilters love to find shortcut ways to sew patches together.

When you sew squares or rectangles, often you can use strip piecing techniques to speed up the process.

But making triangles is somewhat different.

Although there are several methods for sewing triangles, using Thangles is one that will increase your accuracy in addition to speeding up the process.

In this week’s news, you’ll learn about them and get free quilt block pattens:

http://how-to-quilt.com/newsletter/makingtriangles.php

 

Cutting Layers of Fabric with a Rotary Cutter

Every time I begin to cut fabric for a quilt, I pull out my rotary cutter, ruler and mat – and I say a word of “thanks” to the person who figured out that a pizza cutter could also cut fabric.

That’s because I remember the days of cutting individual patches with scissors.

Not only did it take hours of time more to cut the fabric, but the stitching lines had to be marked.

And then before I started sewing the patches together, all of those little stitching lines had to be lined up and pinned – so the patches were sewn correctly.

Not that I’m complaining, mind you.  After all, there wasn’t a choice – and it was far better than quilters 200 years ago, since I had really sharp scissors.

Those days are long gone for me, and I appreciate my rotary cutter.

And one of the things I appreciate about it is that I can cut through multiple layers of fabric at the same time.

Before you do, you need to make sure that the fabric is lined up correctly.

In today’s article, you’ll get tips for cutting through several layers of fabric and you can watch a video showing how to fold your fabric to ensure straight strips:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/6113-cut-layers-of-fabric.php

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A Handy Quilting Tool

Just like great craftsmen, most quilters have their favorite tools – ones they rely on often in order to make their construction easier (and for quilters – more fun).

And I’m no different.

Yet, in the Rotary Cutting Department, which ruler I use depends on what I’m cutting.

A few years ago, I ran across a ruler that caught my eye in the quilt shop.

I hadn’t seen an ad for it or another quilter use it, yet I thought it might be very handy.

Maybe what caught my eye was its odd shape.

Or possibly it was just because I hadn’t seen it before.

Whatever, I decided to invest and try it out.

And I’m glad I did.

It is very easy to use, although I did need to read the instructions and do some testing.

Not to worry, I’ve written up some instructions with pictures showing you how to cut triangles with it – I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out how to cut strips!

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/6027-allinone-ruler.php

All in One Ruler for Quilting

 

Getting the Most Fabric from Garments

It took several tries to create the subject line for this email. And I’m still not sure that it sounds right.

I tried – “Recycling Clothes,” “Repurposing Clothes,” “Cutting Up Clothes.”

Well, you get the idea.

They all sounded kind of strange.

Yet, cutting up clothes is something quilters have done for centuries as a normal part of our work.

On the other hand, it wasn’t until the past few years that I really looked into using clothing for quilts.

Somehow it seemed better to use the clothes for clothing and buy fabric for quilts.

But, then, two things happened.

First, the economy – making fabric from garments much more affordable (whether you get the clothing at a thrift shop or from your closets).

And, second, a conversation with a friend.

It turns out that she kept several articles of her mom’s clothing when she died.

Now that she has cleared out the storage locker, it occurred to her that it might be fun to make a quilt.

(Ah – a new quilter in our midst!)

Now, why I didn’t think of that when my dad died, I can’t imagine. Yet, what fun it would have been to take some of his favorite shirts and create quilts for his grandchildren . . . .

Anyway, my friend, Kathy, will need to know how to get the most from the fabric in her mom’s shirts and dresses.

Here’s the information I’ll give her:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/1020-cut-a-shirt-for-fabric.php

How to cut a shirt to get the most fabric to use in a quilt

 

Large Scale Prints

When I first began quilting more than 30 years ago, the only quilting fabric that was around was calico, tiny dots, stripes and solids.

The focus was more on color and blending colors. Today those quilts are called ‘boring.’

Having grown up sewing some clothes, it took me a long time to be able to mix different calicoes together, let alone mix calico fabrics with the striped fabric.

After completing a few of those quilts, I began to appreciate using a variety of fabric styles in the same quilt.

So it wasn’t too much of a stretch to begin using large scale prints in my quilts.

These prints are really fun to use, yet it takes some thought before you start cutting.

In today’s article, you’ll get tips for using these beautiful large scale prints:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/1085-large-scale-prints.php

This star features fish that wee fussy cut from a large scale print fabric

 

Rotary Cutting

The introduction of the rotary cutter certainly changed the way quilters create their masterpieces.

For centuries quilters cut each patch of fabric out individually – marking at least the sewing lines one by one, and often marking the cutting lines as well.

And while it is easy to take such a wonderful quilting tool for granted, sometimes it’s fun to look back to see how things were invented.

In today’s article, you’ll learn a bit about the history of the rotary cutter and there’s a video showing you how to make sure that the strips you cut are straight.

It turns out that cutting crooked strips can make your patches uneven.

I found out the hard way – don’t let it happen to you:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/6115-rotary-cutters.php

Happy Quilting!

 

Straight Grain of Your Fabric

Aside from color and fabric coordination for quilts, fabric grain is perhaps the most confusing topic for new quilters.

Those who have a background in sewing understand grain, but those totally new to the craft can become perplexed quickly by the grain.

Unless you are foundation piecing, you will need to work with fabrics on-grain.

You might think that fabric is perfectly on-grain when you buy it off the bolt.

That would present a great argument for those who don’t like to prewash their fabrics.

Unfortunately, it’s not true.

Just because fabric is fresh off the bolt doesn’t mean it is on-grain.

The good news is that you can easily even it up…once you know what to look for.
Discover the best methods for seeing the straight grain of your fabric in today’s article:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/1057-fabric-grain.php