My new quilt pattern, Sarah Elizabeth Quilt releases on Friday! With this release coming up, I thought some tips on working with cutting diagrams would be helpful. The yardage version of this pattern uses cutting diagrams. You can see a few more pictures of my yardage version here. There’s also a scrappy version, and you can see mine here. This post should be helpful if you have trouble staying oriented within your cutting diagrams.
We’ll use one of my cutting diagrams for this post, but these tips should be helpful for any cutting diagrams. If you’re an experienced quilter who prefers to go about this differently, just keep on doing what works for you!
Work in sections
I have the sections marked by the red lines in the diagram above. Cut a section, then fold the rest of the fabric over out of your way so that you can finish all of the cuts in that section before moving on to the next section. If you work in sections, you are much less likely to make a mistake in your cutting. Let’s check out the diagram below for an example of how working in sections helps you avoid mistakes.
Let’s say I decide that I’m going to try to cut all the way across first. I think this will save me time because I would only have to make the horizontal cuts once. For some cutting diagrams this might be ok, but not always. I might look at that diagram and see that my largest piece is 16.5″ tall, and decide to cut at 16.5″ for the height. BUT, as you can see in the picture above this would cut off the top of my other sections. If I noticed this ahead of time, I’d have to do math to know that I needed the height at 17″ to not cut anything off. Quilt math is unavoidable sometimes, but I do try to avoid it whenever I can. For me, more having to think about this stuff generally equals more mistakes. So, just avoid it as much as possible by working in sections.
Where to place your cutting mat within your cutting space and your fabric on the cutting mat
I have a fabulous cutting space that was custom built for me by Mr. SnuggleBugStitching. It’s wide enough for the things I need to cut, but it’s also skinny enough for me to move around the table whenever I need to so that I can make cuts without having to move my fabrics around as much. You can check out a video of my sewing cabinet with side table for cutting here. BUT, not everyone has a custom made space or a Mr. SnuggleBugStitching to build it for them, so I’m going talk about this in relation to using your kitchen table and an 18″x24″ cutting mat.
The starting point will be different depending on whether you are left handed or right handed, but both will want to place your fabric so that’s it’s oriented the same way as the cutting diagram. So, if your cutting diagram shows a 1/2 yard cut oriented horizontally, you will want your 1/2 yard cut to be oriented horizontally. You won’t have to think nearly as much if the fabric your cutting is turned so that it looks like the diagram.
For right handers, place your cutting mat in the right corner of your cutting space with the “1” on each axis in that bottom right corner as shown in the picture below. This will allow you to have your numbers going in the direction that you need them to go so that it’s easier to know where to cut. You’ll need to square the right hand side of your fabric off before you start cutting. I like to go just a little past the 2″ mark on each axis. If you need more room to the left, you can move this over to the 1″ marks, but you still want to leave a little space. This will allow you a little room to the right side so that you can still see the increments when you go to cut in the other direction.
For left handers, place your cutting mat in the left corner of your cutting space with the “1” on each axis in that top left corner as shown in the picture below. This will allow you to have your numbers going in the direction that you need them to go so that it’s easier to know where to cut. You’ll need to square the left hand side of your fabric off before you start cutting. I like to go just a little past the 2″ mark on each axis. If you need more room to the right, you can move this over to the 1″ marks, but you still want to leave a little space. This will allow you a little room to the left side so that you can still see the increments when you go to in the other direction.
How to line up your cuts
I’ve seen a little dissent about whether you should use the lines on your ruler or the lines on your mat to line up your cuts. I personally switch between the two as it suits what I want to do at the time. To square off that first side, I like to use the lines on the mat. Here’s a little tip for doing that accurately.
Line the edge of your ruler up with the line you want to use for squaring that side. In this case I used the 2″ line as seen in the picture below. If you be sure the increments on your ruler match up with the marked increments on your mat, you can get a really accurate cut. You can only see the ruler lining up above the fabric in my picture below. I have the pictured zoomed in so that you can see it better, but you will want to line up the increments below the fabric as well.
Making your cuts and staying oriented within your cutting diagram
Whether you are right handed or left handed, placing your mat in the corner of your cutting table (or kitchen table if that’s what you have) will allow you to move around the table easier for your cuts without having to move your fabric around. I like to place my cutting diagram close but off to the side of my nondominant hand. With my mat and diagram place this way, I can move around my space to make my cuts, and my view of the diagram will look the way my cuts will need to look. Check it out in the pictures below.
In the picture above, I’m about to square up my first line so that I can cut the first section. I have the numbers on the painters’ tape for reference to where I’m standing. I’m right handed, so I have the diagram to the left side. Left handed quilters will follow the picture below that has the diagram to the right.
After you have a trustworthy first line cut, you’ll move on to cutting your first section. In the picture below, I’m about to cut my first section. It’s 12.5″ across. Since I lined my first cut up with the 2″ mark, I’ll need to add 12.5″ to that and make my next cut at the 14.5″ line.
After I cut the width for my first section, I can move around the table as I need to and cut the pieces within that section. In the picture below, you see that I’ve turned so that I’m now facing the number “4” on the painters’ tape. It’s also important to note that the way I’m looking at my fabric matches the way I’m looking at my diagram, so I’m less likely to make a mistake. I can continue to maneuver around the table as I need to, making cuts without having to turn my fabric. AND I’m also keeping the diagram and fabric turned in the same direction so that the way I see the diagram is the correct way I need to cut. ***TIP, if you prefer to turn your fabric instead of moving around the table, turn your diagram so that it matches the way you turned your fabric.
If you noticed those stickers on my arm, it’s not a fashion statement. That blue painters’ tape definitely does NOT go with the outfit I was wearing that day. I promise I’ll explain those soon.
Customize the order you cut the sections to your dominate hand
If you’re right handed, start with the section to the far right side of the diagram and work your way over. I know this seems backwards, but it helps. If you’re left handed, start with the section to the far left side of the diagram and work your way over. This allows you to keep your cutting diagram over to the side where it isn’t in your way, and it makes it easier to move around the table while keeping your fabric and diagram still as shown in the sections above.
Keeping track of what you’ve already cut
You could certainly just mark off each piece as you cut it, and that would do exactly what you need it to do. However, this could be limiting for some depending on how you like to use patterns. What if you don’t want to print it out and are just reading it from your phone? What if you did print it but don’t want to write on it because you know you want to make this quilt again?
This is where all of that painters’ tape on my arm comes in. Let’s take a look at my cutting diagram again.
The “2A”, “2F”, etc. on the diagram is meant for labeling your pieces to help you when you go to layout your quilt. I wrote all of those down on painters’ tape and put them on my arm in the order I would use them in my cutting. This order will be different for right handers and left handers because they start from different sides of the diagram as previously mentioned.
***TIP: I don’t have much arm hair, so I just stuck the labels directly to my arm. If you have a little more arm hair, wear a long sleeve shirt and stick the labels to your sleeve.
As you cut your pieces, put the labels on the piece, or use a check mark if you do prefer to write on your pattern. This will help you stay oriented by making it clear which pieces you’ve already cut.
That’s all I’ve got to say about that
My Sarah Elizabeth Quilt pattern goes live on Friday, August 5th. I’ll come back to this post and add the link once it’s live. ***Edited to add that this pattern is now available!
I hope this post helped you.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave me a comment or email me. I’d love to hear from you!
If you like my blog, please subscribe and follow me on Instagram too!
Happy quilting!
Good tips! And why didn’t I think about that painters tape trick? 🤩
Thanks Sue! I’m glad this helped you! Painters’ tape has SEW many uses for me as a quilter. I use painters’ tape way more for quilting than I ever did for painting.