How to Cut the Fabric for a Rail Fence Quilt
- 1). Choose four coordinating fabrics for your quilt. Lightweight cotton quilting fabrics work best. Iron the fabric to remove all wrinkles and creases.
- 2). Cut the fabric into manageable pieces, about 24 inches by 36 inches. An alternate method is to fold your length of fabric in half. Most quilting fabrics are 44 to 45 inches wide, which will give you about a 22 inch width to work with when the fabric is folded.
- 3). Place the cutting mat on the work surface.
- 4). Lay the fabric on the cutting mat with the selvage edge of the fabric placed along the grid lines of the cutting mat to get a straight cutting line. The selvage is the self-finished edge of the fabric which keeps the edge from unraveling.
- 5). Cut rectangular strips that are 6 ½ inches by 2 inches. This size strip allows for ¼-inch seam allowances.
- 6). Lay your cutting guide on top of the fabric with a horizontal line positioned along a horizontal grid line on your cutting mat.
- 7). Hold the cutting guide firmly in place with one hand. Hold the rotary cutter in your other hand. Place the rotary wheel on the fabric next to your cutting guide.
- 8). Use firm pressure to roll the rotary cutter along the edge of the cutting guide to cut through the fabric.
- 9). Measure 2 inches from the first cut to cut the opposite edge of your strip.
- 10
Turn your cutting guide to a vertical position on the fabric, lining it up with the vertical grid lines on your cutting mat. Cut a straight edge along one end of the fabric. - 11
Move the cutting guide 6 ½ inches from the end cut to cut the opposite end. You should now have a 6 ½ by 2 inch rectangular strip. - 12
Follow this procedure to cut the remaining strips of fabric. For a 12-inch by 12-inch quilt block you will need four strips from each of your four fabrics. Cut additional sets of four strips from each of your fabrics to make additional squares, depending on the size of quilt you are making.
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