In the terms of quilting supplies and rotary cutting, it can be very confusing as to why one would want to add to their resources when at first glance there does not seem to be very much difference between the new and the old. I recently had such an experience. Quilter's Select came out with some new rulers who's size ends in ½" vs. a whole inch like most rulers do. While cute, I did not understand their value. UNTIL…
While working on a quilt pattern that began with 5" squares that became half square triangles, the pattern instructed me to trim down the finished units to be 4½". Great, no problem. I whipped out my 5x5 ruler and got to work. After all a 5x5 ruler is perfect for those 5" charm squares. What I soon discovered was that I was creating twice as much work for myself than was necessary. With this ruler, I was lining up the ruler, trimming two sides of my unit, rotating it, realigning and finally trimming the other two sides. This got old fast! Remembering that Quilter's Select had recently come out with a 4½" × 4½" ruler, I went and got one. Wow did this make trimming up the units so much more quick and precise. May I explain? Not only was it the exact size that I needed the unit to be, but with the grippy coating on the back side of the ruler, it stayed snug to the fabric so when I rotated it to trim the other side I found there was not the same amount of repositioning needed.
Then it dawned on me. If working with 5" charm squares and cutting those to create pieced units like a four patch or a half square triangle it will no longer be 5" and the 4½" ruler is the absolute perfect size. That got me thinking further and I realized some great benefits of the "and half" rulers.
• 2½" × 2½" Ruler
Easy to handle and the perfect size for sub cutting jelly rolls or truing up
• 2½" squares 2½" × 18" Ruler
Common needed fabric width with a long enough reach to cut the width of fabric when folded one extra time
• 3½" × 3½" Ruler
Perfect size to fit into a finished 6" or 12" block
• 4½" × 4½" Ruler
A time saver for sure! See above. Also the perfect size needed with working with a finished 8" and 12" block
• 6½" × 6½" Ruler
Perfect for truing up for a finished 6" block
• 6½" × 24" & 8½" × 24" Ruler
Great for sub-cutting your fabric yardage down into the needed sizes. After using the 8½" × 24", I realized how often a width of more than the standard 6" was needed when sub-cutting. This has been a very welcomed tool to my sewing room!
• 8½" × 8½" Ruler
A must for an 8" finished block and for trimming up your embroidered quilt blocks that you sewed in your 8" × 8" hoop
• 12½" × 12½" Ruler
Exactly what you need for a finished 12" block
If you plan on adding to your cutting tool box, think about the sizes you mostly work with and what projects you have coming up. Tailor your first additions to match those needs. Or you can be like me and get them all. ☺ Once I find a tool that helps me so much, I never want to be caught without what I need.
Happy Sewing,
~Reva
