Cutting Mat with Cut Pieces

A quilt is made up of literally hundreds of individual pieces that are combined together in the pattern chosen for each of the quilt blocks. Most quilt patterns use the traditional shapes of squares, triangles, and diamonds. If you want your quilt blocks to come together properly when you piece them, it only makes sense that they will fit together better if each piece is cut properly to begin with. While you may be most eager to make some blocks, taking the time to properly prepare the fabric and to cut highly accurate pieces when you begin the quilt will pay great dividends in the quality of your completed quilt.

The key is to use the latest in modern tools for creating well-cut pieces. Using scissors to cut out a pattern for making clothing works quite fine for two reasons: one, you are only cutting through at most two layers of fabric; and two, you have an ample seam allowance to work with when the item is sewn together. Also the scale of what you are working on is human-size rather than a precision 8-inch, 10-inch, or 12-inch quilt block. There is a natural tendency to hold scissors at an angle when cutting fabric, so if you are cutting through multiple layers of quilt fabric with scissors the bottom pieces will be slightly smaller than the top pieces. This variation in the size of the pieces will definitely cause problems when you piece the quilt blocks.

See also

• Rotary Cutting Tools
• Cutting Squares
• Half Square Triangles
• Quarter Square Triangles
• Templates
• Hand Piercing vs Machine Piercing templates
• Cutting using templates
• Fabric Pattern Matching