Kids Can Quilt! – Day 2

We hope you are all doing well and are excited you are here to quilt along with us! We are starting to see pictures of fabric  pulls and love what all the kids are coming up with. If you are waiting on fabric that you ordered, don’t worry, these videos won’t go anywhere, so just jump in as soon as you can. If you missed yesterday’s video, head to Kids Can Quilt! – Day 1 to catch up.

Today we are cutting out fabric. We have to start this lesson with a SAFETY WARNING! Rotary cutter blades are SHARP! Exercise care and caution when using one. Always have an adult or responsible teenager help, and if you are one of our younger quilters, maybe have your adult cut out the fabric for you. If you opted for charm packs, you can skip this step and just come back tomorrow to start sewing them together.

 

Supplies for Cutting

To cut out your fabric, we recommend a cutting mat, ruler, and rotary cutter. This will be a special ruler made for cutting. It’s a nice straight edge and thicker than a regular school ruler. You will need one of these speciality rulers for cutting. If you don’t have access to one, you can cut them out by hand, but it will take a while and instead we recommend ordering charm packs. Charm packs are packages of pre cut 5″ squares and would work perfectly for this project. Most charm packs come in sets of 20-40. Double check your package and make sure to order enough to get 108 squares total.

We are using a 6×24″ ruler. It is a great all around ruler size.

Cutting Instructions

If you are using 9 fabrics, you will want 12 – 5″ squares from each fabric. For other fabric amounts, check below.

First, trim the edge of your fabric to make sure you are starting with a nice straight line. Line your ruler up along a straight edge (the fold usually works nicely). Put it as close to the edge as you can with some fabric still showing and trim it off. After that, you can line your ruler up along that freshly cut edge. Find the 5″ line and place it directly on the edge of your fabric to cut your first strip. After you cut it, set it aside and line your ruler up along the new edge. Repeat till you have all the strips you will need. If you are using fat quarters, you’ll get 3 or 4 strips (depending on the direction you start, just keep cutting till you run out of fabric). If you are using yardage, you’ll want 2 – 5″ strips. For scraps, just cut whatever you can.

After you have cut your 5″ strips, go back and start cutting the squares. First, cut off the selvage, this is the piece on the edge of your fabric that regular has little holes or writing on it. We don’t want to use this part of the fabric. Then, line your 5″ ruler up along that cut edge and cut your first square. Reposition your ruler and keep going, cutting 5″ squares till you run out of fabric or have the amount you need.

What if I don’t have a Rotary Cutter?

You can definitely still quilt! People were quilting long before these tools were invented. If you are cutting out your fabric with scissors, you’ll want to mark the squares first, then cut them out. We recommend making a template from a cereal box to make this easier. Just mark a 5″ square on the box and cut it out, then use this to draw on your fabric. You can just use a pen or pencil to mark the shapes. Mark on the back of your fabric. This should help make your lines easier to see.

Different Fabric Amounts

If you are using more fabrics, adjust the amount of each one to get 108 squares total.

For 10 fabrics – cut 11 of each.

For 11 fabrics – cut 10 of each.

For 12 fabrics – cut 9 of each.

For 13 fabrics – cut 8 of each, plus 4 more of any of the fabrics.

You could use as many fabrics as you want. If you are using more than 13, grab some paper and do a little math to figure out how many you’ll need. If you are using scraps and can’t get the same amount out of each one, it’s okay if there are different numbers of different fabrics as long as the total is the same.

After all your fabric is cut, set it aside and we’ll start sewing tomorrow! See you then.