There's More Than One Way To Skin A Cat...Uh, I Mean A Quilt

I did a post Thursday about how to rotary cut quilt squares. From some of the comments that were left and emails that were sent to me personally...I just wanted to clear up a few things, especially about the grain of the fabric.

This is how I cut my squares. I took one quilting class 15 years ago. I was the only person who signed up for the class, so I had a lot of one on one time with the quilt instructor. This is how she taught me. Is there another way to cut fabric squares or strips...you betcha!!! I'm sure there are Sew Many Ways to cut fabric! (sorry, couldn't resist) There are probably more ways than we can think of. However, at the end of the day, our fabric is cut, sewed together and we all have a beautiful quilt to keep or give away.

I quilt for my family or for gifts...mostly baby gifts. The people who receive my quilts have no clue what the grain of the fabric is. All they see is something made from the heart and I hope something beautiful.

Is the grain of fabric important? Maybe to some, but not me. I always cut yardage the way I showed in the tutorial, which is pretty close to cutting on the grain...I know not precise, but that's ok for me. I will probably never enter a quilt in a quilt show...never have enough confidence for that! I love scrap quilts and using up bits and pieces. Do I have the time to figure out the "exact" grain of the fabric on a piece of scrap material? Nope. I just want to sew and get that top finished.

My mind goes back to the past and how women would cut up feed sacks to make those gorgeous 1930's quilts or how they cut up worn out clothing to make the best scrap quilts ever. Were they thinking about the grain of the fabric? I think I was born in the wrong time period.

My thoughts also go to Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville.com who is the scrap quilt queen in my eyes. She uses everything from shirts she finds in thrift stores to scraps that are sent to her from other quilters. I just love her scrap quilts! She is such an inspiration.

When it comes down to it, among the millions of quilters in this big world...professional to newbie...we are innately the same. Our destination in life is to create, sew and make something that speaks to the heart. We all just take a different path to get there.

Hope you have a wonderful day and can sneak some sewing time in there too,
~Karen~