How to Quilt>Fussy Cutting

Fussy Cutting

Fussy cuts - specific designs cut from a piece of fabric to be featured in a quilt project - are great ways to add interest to quilts. A fussy cut can dress up a traditional block quilt with flair.

If your quilt project features licensed characters like The Care Bears, you can easily fussy cut different bears from the fabric to feature in your quilt. As you can imagine, this will take more fabric than simply cutting pieces the way you normally would.

If you are making a quilt that features fussy cuts, you don’t want to be caught shorthanded on your fabric. Making sure you have enough fabric for your cuts is as simple as a trip to the fabric store. Lay the fabric out on the cutting table at the store and count just how many bears you can get in one yard.

One way to see how a fussy cut design will look when it is cut to size is to take a piece of cardboard and cut the exact shape of the patch out of the center (the "patch" will be the hole in the center of the cardboard).

For example, if your patch is a 2-inch square (finished size) cut a-2 inch square out of the center of a 6-inch square piece of cardboard. Lay out your fabric and then place the hole in the cardboard on the design in the fabric.

By looking at the design surrounded by the frame of the cardboard, you will be able to see how that exact patch will look, and whether it is too large or too small.

In the Ocean Waves quilt block below, I placed the cardboard cutout "on point" on my fabric in order to see how the wave would look in the center of the block.

When you calculate just how many fussy cuts you need, you will be able to easily calculate how many yards of fabric you will need to accommodate your design. Remember to take seam allowances into consideration.

If your fussy cut block seam allowance cuts into the neighboring image, you will need to go to a different section on the fabric in order to get both pieces cut correctly. Be sure to add yardage to make up for the cut ones.

Once you have determined how much fabric you need to complete your fussy cuts, you’re ready to get started.

Here’s a tip for cutting your fussy pieces. Starch the fabric before cutting it. The starch will help offset any problems with grain and make your rotary cutter slide right through it.

This center patch was fussy cut so that a cat was positioned in the center.	The center of this Ocean Waves quilt block features fabric that has been fussy cut to look like an ocean wave.

© 2009-, Penny Halgren. This article courtesy of http://www.How-To-Quilt.com. You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.