tildiemae

I just finished making a 6" nine patch queen sized quilt and used my accuQuilt exclusively and my long arm quilter commented how even all the blocks were! Thus I'm totally convinced this makes a huge difference in my cutting accuracy!

cindyw

I cut like you do, imsewnso. So much easier for me. Especially when you cut a narrow strip.

bearisgray

Sometimes when one has used unwashed fabric, it shrinks when it is pressed.

So the fabrics may have been cut accurately, and sewn accurately, but then when it was pressed (with steam), the fabric might shrink.

I bought cut strips that were 2-1/2 inches (Hoffman or Kaufman) - and after they were washed, they were only 2-3/8 inches wide.

madamekelly

I do use the lines on my cutting matt. I use them to be sure that my fold stays even with the lines on my ruler., it just helps me keep everything as straight as possible. I never use the lines to cut though.

bearisgray

I do that, too.

MadQuilter

When cutting long strips only cut as far as you have control over the ruler. Place your hand firmly on the bottom part of the ruler and cut to where the hand ends. Carefully walk your hand up the ruler and cut the next section.

If you don't know why you are off, do a few test cuts. Cut what you would normally cut for a certain size and then measure the cut piece. Is it too small, too large, or crooked. Then you can adjust your alignment accordingly. Some rulers are easier to align than others but they are also expensive. I'm a firm believer in figuring out what you got.

Pennyhal

I've given up trying to cut perfectly. No matter what technique I use, it's always a little off. I've learned to live with it and not stress out anymore. I make quilts to use, not to enter into shows, so fantastic precision really isn't needed. But I do need for things to line up. So I make little corrections here and there along the way. I found that I don't like working with starched fabric. I love the feel of the fabric unstarched and that's part of the pleasure of quilting that I don't want to give up. I do find that using a ruler with simple fine lines works best for me. The rulers with fat yellow marks is too hard to line up. I admire your efforts to improve your quilting skills! You will learn along the way what works best for you.

bearisgray

Sometimes it is worth measuring the strip width with another ruler - say a carpenter's ruler with marks down to 1/64th of an inch to see what the actual cut width is.

Mine are actually about 1/64th of an inch bigger than the "designated size" because of the gap between my cutter and the ruler edge.

I usually do not fret about using a scant 1/4 inch, either.