Quilting Tips: Accurate Measuring and Cutting

Hello and happy Wednesday! Today I’d like to discuss a few tips and ideas to help  with accurate measuring and cutting fabrics for quilting. The tips I’m sharing are ideas that have proven to be valuable insights to the quilters I get to work with when I teach quilting classes. It’s amazing how often one simple tip can really improve accuracy.

Of course, the most familiar of these tips is the oft-repeated “measure twice; 


cut once” refrain that I first learned from my grandmother. But I also have some other ideas that will help get your measuring and cutting fabrics right on track!

Press fabrics before measuring and cutting.

Whether you are using scraps, yardage or pre-cuts (fat quarters, fat eighths, Layer Cakes, charm squares, or mini charm squares), it’s really important to press your fabrics before working with them. Many fabrics have folds or wrinkles in them which can affect the accuracy of your cutting, and many fabrics will shrink just a little bit the first time they are ironed. Whether you pre-wash fabrics or not, pressing before beginning to cut the fabrics can really affect the accuracy of your cut pieces.

Consider starching fabrics, especially when working with small pieces.

A lot of quilters starch all of their fabrics before beginning any project. I generally don’t use starch if I’m working with simple piecing; however, if I’m working on a project that requires precision piecing or if I’m making a mini quilt I starch and then iron my fabrics before beginning. Applying starch to fabric makes the fabric more stiff and helps prevent stretching and fraying. Pre-treating fabrics with starch can also help if you will be working with a lot of bias edges.

Use your cutting mat to line up edges of your fabric, not to measure it.

This tip is an important one. While the lines on cutting mats can be very helpful in lining up fabric and making sure it is straight, you will get more accurate cuts by using the lines on your ruler to measure. 

Straighten fabric edges before beginning to cut.

Always trim fabric edges so they are even before beginning to cut. If you are cutting a lot of strips or pieces from a piece of fabric you’ll also want to periodically check to see if your fabric is still straight. I often have to trim ⅛″ to ¼″ after several cuts to make sure my fabric is still straight. 

Use painter’s tape or washi tape on your ruler when making several cuts the same measurement.

This tip is especially helpful if you are having trouble remembering which line you are supposed to be using as your cutting guide or if you are cutting a piece with an⅛″ increment that is especially hard to find or see. 

Use a sharp rotary blade for cutting your fabrics.

Simply put: sharp rotary blades cut more accurately. I’ve noticed while teaching that a lot of cutting errors students make are caused because they are using dull blades. Rotary blades are expensive, and it’s not fun to have to purchase them; however, using a sharp blade can really make  a difference in how easily and accurately you are able to cut your fabrics.

Use a rotating cutting mat whenever possible rather than cutting towards your body.

It’s easier to be accurate with cutting when cutting away from your body. When making multiple cuts that require different directions, you can increase accuracy by using a rotating cutting mat. The rotating mat doesn’t need to be very large–I use an OLFA 12″ Rotating Self-Healing Rotary Mat that I keep on a shelf and put on top of my larger cutting mat when I need it.

Measure twice; cut once. 

Yes, I had to repeat this tip. It was the first thing my grandmother told me when she gave me my first quilting lesson, and many of my mistakes have come because I didn’t always heed this rule! Funny story: I mentioned this to my husband once, and he was surprised to find that a rule he uses in a lot of his hobbies can also be applied to quilting!

Make sure you have an accurate ¼″ seam allowance