folding and cutting a large piece of fabric
06-26-2011, 12:02 PM
#43
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Clearwater, FL
Posts: 2,328
Originally Posted by Mona Marie
Originally Posted by AlienQuilter
I went to Paducah once for the quilt show. Shopped at the Quilt in a Day tent. They tore the fabric and gave a little extra to make up for it. Would be a good workout if you had to tear fabric all day.
When I was a kid, not only did we tear fabric, we also used razor blades instead of seam rippers. Never owned a seam ripper until I was an adult.
When I was a kid, not only did we tear fabric, we also used razor blades instead of seam rippers. Never owned a seam ripper until I was an adult.
06-26-2011, 05:55 PM
#48
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Orbiting
Posts: 1,448
There were times when I needed a bunch of skinny quarters and I wished they had torn the fabric to get the straight of grain. I really needed to make 2 1/2" strips width of fabric, but the elbows were so bad, I could only get the strips half-width, which meant they were on the bias, which isn't good.
With good fabric, tearing only distorts the edge. It helps you with folding the fabric and you can always trim off the little bit that's distorted.
Panels are notorious for being wonky. I used one recently. It had cute little kittens that, at a glance, were squares, but when I measured, they were 1/8" taller than they were wide. I wound up choosing the shoe-fly pattern with the kitten block in the center. Made my side pieces the same size as the sides of the kitten blocks.
You just need to make your own judgement call on when it's right to tear (when you really need the straight of grain) and when it's better to cut (like when there's a directional pattern on the fabric).
Happy quilting!
About the safety of using those razor blades. I never cut myself on them even though I was just a kid. The only time I have cut myself is with my rotary cutter. That's when I realized that I was a quilter because all I cared about was not getting blood on the fabric!
With good fabric, tearing only distorts the edge. It helps you with folding the fabric and you can always trim off the little bit that's distorted.
Panels are notorious for being wonky. I used one recently. It had cute little kittens that, at a glance, were squares, but when I measured, they were 1/8" taller than they were wide. I wound up choosing the shoe-fly pattern with the kitten block in the center. Made my side pieces the same size as the sides of the kitten blocks.
You just need to make your own judgement call on when it's right to tear (when you really need the straight of grain) and when it's better to cut (like when there's a directional pattern on the fabric).
Happy quilting!
About the safety of using those razor blades. I never cut myself on them even though I was just a kid. The only time I have cut myself is with my rotary cutter. That's when I realized that I was a quilter because all I cared about was not getting blood on the fabric!
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