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How to Quilt>Cut Accurate Patches for Quilt Blcoks
Speed Cutting Fabric Patches for Your Quilts
Every once in a while, the engineers of the world do something wonderful for us quilters. Decades ago, we were blessed with the invention of the rotary cutter, and I'll admit it took me a few years to decide to invest in my first one. After all, I had a great pair of scissors, and getting a rotary cutter was quite an investment. I knew I would need to replace the blades - at an additional expense - and what if I didn't like it or couldn't make it work? But, finally, I invested, and now I have several rotary cutters, mats and rulers. And every time I start to cut fabric for a quilt, I thank the guy who brought the rotary cutter to quilting - saving hours of time and increasing the accuracy of the pieces I cut. The engineers have advanced quilting one step further recently. This cutting system for quilting not only increases your speed in cutting fabric, but the patches it cuts are perfect. And you don't need to get special mats or rulers, or worry about having a large enough space for cutting your fabric. Remembering back to the introduction of the rotary cutter, I think I remember hearing about increasing the accuracy of my patches then. And, anyone who uses a rotary cutter has probably had the experience of a ruler slipping causing an inaccurate cut in a strip or patch for a quilt. Using this new device, it appears that all of those inaccurate cuts will be completely eliminated. Not only that, but because there are no sharp cutting blades exposed, it looks like it would be impossible to cut yourself (or anyone else) as you cut your fabric. Engineering son, Bubba, would appreciate that, since I just about cut his little finger off one day when he stuck it right in the path of my rotary cutter! You can layer your fabric right sides together so that once the patches are cut, they are ready to take right over to your sewing machine to piece together. The basic cutter is light weight and easy to carry to a class, and it's small enough to tuck away into a closet or under a bed. However, you may want to think about taking it to a class, because you may end up cutting the fabric for everyone in the class and not have time for sewing your patches! On the other hand, you could let everyone cut their own fabric with the cutter. Cutting fabric is not only easy but flexible. You can cut individual patches from small pieces of scrap fabric, or you can cut many layers of fabric from yardage - including long bias (or straight grain) strips for binding or borders. You can also get dies with fancy shapes - butterflies, stars, flower petals, leaves - in addition to many different kinds and sizes of triangles, squares, hexagons and rectangles. Recently I visited Rosie's for a demonstration of the system. I had read a lot about it, but had never seen it in action. Candy showed me, from start to finish, how it worked and showed me some of the blocks they had created at Rosie's Calico Cupboard. It really is quite an amazing machine, and my imagination ran wild with the possibilities. I can just imagine how much time I can save cutting fabric, and giving me more time to sew. Plus, I don't know about you, but every time I cut fabric for a quilt, I somehow end up with wasted pieces - usually because the ruler slipped and whacked a tiny slice off the side of a strip or patch. Candy was kind enough to allow me to take some video as she was showing me how the AccuQuilt Go! system worked, and you can see it for yourself below. If you are interested in getting one of your own, Rosie has them at a fabulous price - if you ask for her 40% coupon off - you'll save a bunch! And, she'll happily ship it right to your snail mailbox. You can email Rosie: Rosie at Rosie's Calico Cupboard - rozgonzalez@cox.net Be sure to let her know you are a How-to-Quilt.com newsletter subscriber and she will take extra fine care of you and your needs. Oh, you can also cut and fringe squares for rag quilts in one simple step. Think of it - you can layer your fabric, cut and fringe the squares, so all that is left is sewing your rag quilt together and washing it to make it raggy."
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren www.How-to-Quilt.com
©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.
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