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Spreading quilty joy one stitch at a time!

Shattered Star Quilt Along – Week 2: Part 2 – How to cut your fabric

October 20, 2020 by Shannon 1 Comment

Shattered Star Quilt Along Week 2 Part 2: How to cut your fabric | Shannon Fraser Designs #quilting

It’s fabric cutting time! 

Now I know this can be an intimidating point in the quilt journey.

You’ve got your pretty fabrics that you’re in love with and you don’t want to be wasting a single inch. 

I hear you. 

Which is why, today we’re taking things a step further and focusing on how to cut your fabric to not only maximize your yardage, but also set yourself up for nice even cuts. 

If you missed  Part 1: Pressing, I recommend reading that first before diving into your fabric cutting session, as your pressing habits will have an impact on your cutting results! 

Ok, so you’ve got your fabrics nicely pressed and wrinkle free. You may have used starch, opted for a starch alternative, or decided to go ‘au naturelle’ and forgo all stabilizers. Whatever pressing journey you’ve taken; the next steps will be the same, but you will want to handle your fabric as little as possible in accordance with the level of starch you’ve used.

Quilt fabric cutting tips | Shattered Star Quilt Along Week 2 - Part 2: How to cut your fabric | Shannon Fraser Designs #quiltingtips

*This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission.


FABRIC CUTTING ESSENTIALS

To set yourself up for the ultimate cutting experience, here are the essential cutting tools I can’t make it through a fabric cutting session without. 

SELF-HEALING CUTTING MAT

*Self-healing cutting mat – invest wisely here. Not all mats are created equal and we quilters put ours through the wringer. I also recommend getting the largest version that will fit your table or sewing space. This is particularly handy when it comes to cutting your fabric. The more space you have the less you need to move and shift your fabric around. Plus, it also means you’ll have to fold your fabric less times to fit it onto your mat to make your cuts. This will become more evident when you see the cutting in action (below) 😉 

Alvin self-healing cutting mat

ROTARY CUTTER

*Rotary cutter with a nice sharp new blade. This is a key component to fabric cutting success. A nice sharp blade cuts through fabric more efficiently, resulting in less fatigue for you, and doesn’t shift/ pull/ tug/ skip fibers as much as a dull blade will. 

Olfa Splash rotary cutter on a pair of Omnigrid quilting rulers | Shattered Star QAL Week 2 Part 2: How to cut fabric | Shannon Fraser Designs #notions

REPLACEMENT BLADES

*Replacement blades – stock up, your future self will thank you! Plus, it will encourage you to replace your blades more often. See point 2 for why this is important! 

QUILTING RULERS

These are the 3 I can’t live without:*8 ½” x 24” *6” x 12”*12 ½” x 12 ½”

FABRIC

For my Holiday Shattered Star quilt, I’m featuring a mix of AGF PURE Solids with the Little Town fat quarter bundle. In the video, I’m working with *AGF PURE Solids. 

White plate with cut quilt pieces for holiday Shattered Star quilt | Shattered Star QAL week 2 part 2: how to cut fabric | Shannon Fraser Designs #quilting Shop my essentials notions here: Amazon Influencer Shop 

Shattered Star Quilt Along Schedule | Shannon Fraser Designs #quiltalong

HOW TO CUT FABRIC

I thought the best way for you to understand how to cut your fabric was to show you a fabric cutting session in action! I address some of your top fabric cutting questions and walk you through how to cut yardage and a fat quarter, with a little PSA on how sharp those rotary cutters are (yup, speaking from experience on this one!). Come check it out! 

SHATTERED STAR QAL WEEK 2 GIVEAWAY

This week’s giveaway is sponsored by LDH Scissors & Soak Wash! 

I can’t make it through a fabric pressing session without my go-to starch alternative Flatter spray! This stuff is not only efficient at relaxing your creases without any nasty chemicals, but it does it all while smelling fantastic too! Soak Wash is giving one lucky winner: 1 bottle of unscented Flatter spray, 1 bottle of Pineapple Grove scented Flatter spray + a Flatter caddy (which is pretty nifty and handy!). 

Shattered Star QAL Week 2 Sponsor: Soak Wash | Shannon Fraser Designs #quiltingnotions

I didn’t put much thought into my cutting tools initially, until LDH Scissors sent me a pair of their tailor sheers and it was like cutting through buttah! I couldn’t get over how different the cutting experience was. Cutting took on a whole new enjoyable meaning and I’ve been hooked on good quality cutting tools ever since. LDH Scissors is generously giving one lucky winner a pair of blue soft handled scissors!  

Shattered Star QAL Week 2 Giveaway Sponsor LDH Scissors | Shannon Fraser Designs #scissors

To enter the giveaway, you must:

  • Be a Shattered Star QAL newsletter subscriber (sign up here)
  • Be following @LDH_Scissors, @soakwash and @shannonfraserdesigns on Instagram
  • Post a photo on Instagram of your cut Shattered Star quilt pieces between October 19, 2020 and October 25, 2020 at 11:59pm.
  • Instagram account must be public.
  • Tag @LDH_Scissors, @soakwash and @shannonfraserdesigns
  • Include the hashtags #shatteredstarquilt #shatteredstarqal

Week 2 giveaway is open internationally. 

Art Gallery Fabrics before being cut and after being cut | Shattered Star Quilt Along Week 2 Part 2: How to cut your fabric | Shannon Fraser Designs #artgalleryfabrics

Still plenty of time to get the Shattered Star quilt pattern and sign up for the quilt along!

Good luck and happy fabric cutting! 

xo

Shannon 

PS After a quilt cutting session, I like to do a quick cleaning to wipe away the dust fibers that I’m always amazed to see collect on my cutting mat and table. Check my Sunday Studio Maintenance for more cleaning tips 😊 


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Filed Under: Quilt Along, Quilting, Shattered Star QAL Tagged With: Shattered Star QAL

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Hi! I'm Shannon. A modern quilt pattern designer based in Montreal. My quilting journey started by stumbling upon a half square triangle tutorial and I've been hooked since. I'm now spreading that quilty joy to you! Read More…

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