Frequently Asked Questions:
1) How does the Guidelines Ruler compare with conventional quilting rulers?
2) Is Guidelines Ruler for both right and left handers?
3) What is Scant Quarter Inch Seam Allowance and Why do I need to use it?
4) How can I make traditional quilt blocks more easily without worrying about quilt math?
9) What are the steps to square up fabric?
10) Why should I pre-trim triangle points?
11) What's the difference between Finished Size and Cut Size of quilt pieces?
1) How does the Guidelines Ruler compare with conventional quilting rulers?
Quilting rulers have been around for about 30 years with the same basic design. Acrylic is cut to size and then lines are marked on the bottom. About the only variations are different colors for the lines and different non-slip features. Lately we've also seen neon colored acrylic with laser cut lines.
What hasn't changed with conventional acrylic quilting rulers:
- Time Consuming: You have to pick out the measurement line you want by eye over and over again. It's hard to tell where the center of each line is to line it up to the fabric's edge. Even if you mark the line with tape or post-it notes, you still have to line it up by eye.
- Slippage problem: You have to hold down the ruler tightly and even do the finger walk down the ruler to keep it from slipping while you cut.
a) Built-in Fabric Guides Help You Cut Every Strip and Square Accurately and Fast:
b) No Slipping:
c) Connectable in Three Different Ways:
d) Unbeakable, Un-Nickable, Un-Chippable:
e) Built-in Angle Line Marker:
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a) Built-in Fabric Guides Help You Cut Every Strip and Square Accurately and Fast:
The Guidelines Ruler's built-in Fabric Guides mean you only have to find the line you need once.
Cannot view the animation below on your iPad? Click here to watch it on Youtube.
They lock onto the measurement lines underneath the ruler, so they are always dead center of the line you want.
No More Tape or Post-It-Notes:
The adjustable Fabric Guides are PERMANENT that you never have to throw away unlike disposable tape or post-it-notes that leave sticky residue on your ruler.
It works like using a food processer instead of
a knife to chop vegetables:
Because the fabric butts right up against the edge of the guides, it's faster and more accurate than anyone can possibly cut when lining up by eye.
b) No Slipping:
Cut a Single Layer or Multiple Layers of Fabric
with No Fatigue on Your Shoulder, Arm and Hand.
The Guidelines Ruler's built-in Grip Strips work better than
any other non-slip feature because they are on its edges.
On all other rulers, the pressure you put just goes straight down under your hand. Putting a vinyl sheet under an acrylic ruler helps, but it really only increases the gripping force right where your hand is. That's why when you run the cutter past your hand, they still tend to slip which is why we do the finger walk.
Just imagine if you got stepped on by someone in high heels, it would hurt you a lot. But if they were gym shoes, not so much.
Cannot view the animation below on your iPad? Click Here to Watch it on Youtube.
Make a 6" x 24" when needed, but take them apart and they will fit in a small bag or drawer or even in the case with your sewing machine. Connecting as a corner square makes it easy to square up fabric's edge.
d) Unbeakable, Un-Nickable, Un-Chippable:
Guidelines Rulers are made of Polycarbonate, which is 25 times stronger than acrylic. They are virtually unbreakable. You won't ever chip the corners or cut little slices off the edge of the Ruler.
e) Built-in Angle Line Marker:
Every Guidelines Ruler comes with an Angle Line Marker.
Insert it onto the indentations on the surface of Guidelines Ruler.
It reminds you which angle line you're working at the time.
2) Is the Guidelines Ruler for both right and left handers?
Yes. The Guidelines can be used by both left and right handed quilters. The angle lines also run in both directions. Right handers will be cutting on the right side of the Ruler, left handers may turn it around and cut on the left side.
3) What is a Scant Quarter Inch and why do I need to use it?
A Scant Quarter Inch is a measurement that is 1 to 2 thread-width narrower than an exact Quarter Inch.
Don't we need an exact Quarter
Inch Seam Allowance?
Why should it be a Scant
Quarter Inch?
Just like any lines have some width, a seam line has 1 to 2 thread width. So, if you measure the exact quarter inch around quilt piece and sew them together, you will be sewing into the finished piece by 1 to 2 thread width too much. This may sound insignificant, but when you put together quilt pieces in this manner, a little adds up to the major inaccuracy in the entire quilt.
When you sew a Scant Quarter Inch, combined with the seam line, you end up with a perfect quarter inch seam allowance.
Guidelines4Quilting's Prep-Tool™ is scant quarter inch wide. You can set a scant quarter inch seam guide on your sewing machine.
You can also trim triangle points precisely with the Prep-Tool.
4) How can I make traditional quilt blocks more easily without worrying about quilt math?
Using Finished Size Quilting techniques, you can make traditional blocks any size you want
with no math, patterns or templates. Click here to learn more.
The Ultimate Stashbuster - A Fun Way to turn your stash into finished blocks.
Click
here to learn more.
5) Half and Quarter Square Triangles are identical in shape. How can I tell them apart when I see them in quilt blocks?
Cannot view the animation below on your iPad? Click here to watch it on YouTube.
We all know that in quilting you never want a bias edge that can stretch out of shape on the outside of a block or unit. We always start by first squaring up our fabric, so that we cut our strips on the straight grain.
Knowing this makes it so much easier to tell Half & Quarter Square Triangles apart.
When you look at each individual patch with triangles in it, if the short sides of the triangle are on the outside, it is a Half Square Triangles. And if the long side is on the outside, it is a Quarter Square Triangles.
6)
Here's Why:
Here's why:
This is the reason why you have to take extra time
to trim them to make them fit with each other.
Keep on reading the next section. It tells you how to make triangles accurately, so you won't have to trim triangles any more.
7) How can I make half square triangles and quarter square triangles that fit perfectly with each other or with squares in the same block?
If you already read the section above, you know why you have to make triangles extra big and take extra time to trim them. Have you ever noticed that your triangles still don't look right after trimming them?
Here's a new way to add exact amount of seam allowance:
You'll be able to make beautiful triangles every time without wasting any time.
Just attach one of the Additions to the edge of the Guidelines Ruler.
The S for Squares, H for Half Square Triangles and Q for Quarter Square Traiangles.
Then, Pre-Trim Triangle Points to Make it Easier to Align Pieces Together:
Cannot view the animation below on your iPad? Click here to watch it on YouTube.
Did You Know that Most Point Trimmers have a Built-In Error?
You now know that patterns add rounded up seam allowance amounts for triangles because quilt rulers only have lines every 1/8".
- 7/8" (0.875") instead of 0.854" to make Half Square Triangles.
- 1 1/4" (1.25") instead of 1.207" to make Quarter Square Triangles.
Because those measurements are rounded up, so are the measurements used by most point trimmers. Most Point Trimmers use a width of .375" which is 3/8". But, if you do the math, the exact width you should trim at is .354".
Click here to learn how to use the Seam Allowance Additions.
8) Can I use Seam Allowance Additions for my acrylic rulers, such as Omnigrid, Olfa or Creative Grids' Rulers?
The answer is yes. We have two versions of Seam Allowance Additions: The one for Guidelines Rulers only and the other for regular acrylic rulers.
The Guidelines Ruler:
Non-Slip, Un-nickable, Unchippable, Self-Aligning Ruler.
Quilting Ruler with Adjustable Fabric Guide that self-aligns to the fabric's edge:
Made of Polycarbonate, the Guidelines Ruler is 25 times stronger than acrylic rulers
and comes with a lifetime replacement guarantee.No nicking the edge of the Guidelines Ruler's edge with a rotary cutter's blade or No Chipping its corners guaranteed.
9) What are the steps to square up fabric?
The goal is to cut just inside of the raw edge of the fabric, so that the newly cut edge is aligned with the crosswise grain line of the fabric. Click here for Step-by-Step Instructions.
10) Why should I pre-trim triangle points?
11) What's the difference between Finished Size and Cut Size of quilt pieces?
If you look at the Finished Block below, it is a 9" block made of 9 patches. The Finished Size of each patch is 3", so each Finished Square in the block equals one Finished Patch with a Finished size of 3".
You may not think about the Finished Size of
individual pieces very often today:That's because patterns almost always include the Seam Allowance in the measurements given, which is the Cut Size. If you saw our Quilt Quiz 1, you know why the amounts patterns add to the Finished Size are:
- 1/2" for Squares
- 7/8" for Half Square Triangles
- 1 1/4" for Quarter Square Triangles
