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Quilting can be a lengthy and tricky pastime. Fortunately over the years there have been many tools and accessories which have been invented to take on certain problems that quilters used to face all the time.

If you have been quilting for a while, there’s an excellent chance you’ll have most, or all, of these tools. If you’re new to quilting, you will soon work out which of them you ‘must have’.

Rotary Cutter

This is my best and likely more often used tool. Rotary cutters come in several sizes but they fundamentally all do the same job. If you’ve never seen one before, it might seem a lot like a pizza cutter – except much sharper.

It works by running the wheel in a line over your fabric and pressing down. It’ll make quick work of most fabrics and materials – generally requiring just one pass. I first used this on a green quilt design and by gum it saved me nearly an hour of extra cutting.

You are able to buy them them separatley, however if you don’t have one already, I’d suggest buying them in a kit as this includes rulers and occasionally a cutting mat, depending on the kit.

Also do not forget to have a mat underneath any material you may be cutting, it will not always stop when its cut through the fabric and you do not need to be cutting into your craft table!

Cutting Mats

The term ‘cutting mat ‘ doesn’t cover everything in this area. While you can get a cutting mat you may also get a fold away table cover or a complete custom cutting table. How much you need to spend is your decision.

The other wonderful part about these mats is they come with a grid pre-ruled on there to assist with any quick, simple cuts or measurements you may have to make.

A mat should be purchased at the same time as your rotary cutter so that you can get directly to work. You can also find that the mat that comes with your rotary cutting kit might be a bit small, so I would recommend purchasing a larger cutting mat when you purchase a rotary cutter.

These are the tools I frequently work with the most when I’m busy quilting. In the next article, we will be having a look at some other necessary items for quilting.

Interested in more green quilt design ideas? Then head on over to Jane Green’s how to make a patchwork quilt site now!

categories: green quilt design,flower quilt,green bedspread,green patchwork,green quilt,green quilts,patchwork quilt,how to make a patchwork quilt,quilt,quilts

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