Thanks for joining us in the Home Lovin QAL! If you haven’t already gone over the other posts, start with Plan your Project and Pick your Fabrics before continuing here.
Step 4: Cutting Your Fabrics
Now we’re getting to the nitty gritty stuff! This step is my favorite step to knock out all at once! If you’ve sufficiently planned your project and picked out your fabrics, this step is QUICK and when you cut out all your fabrics at once, it speeds up the rest of the paper piecing process 100 fold!
I have lots of tips and tricks to help you along!
What you need:
- cutting mat and rotary cutter
- fabrics - and know WHERE they are going
- cutting templates - print out from the pattern and cut out exactly around the outer border. (The cutting templates are the KEY to accuracy and speeding up the piecing process!! Be brave and give them a try!)
When you’ve cut out all the cutting templates, organize them by fabric.
For example, I gather all my sky cutting templates together (and ground, if they are going to be the same fabric) and match them up with the fabric I’m using for those sections.
Repeat this for each fabric you’re using (so the cutting templates that match that fabric are all together).
For my quilt, I’ll have all the house cutting templates with my 25 rainbow prints, the sky and ground templates with my kona haze, the background templates* with my white fabric.
Since I’m going to be using different 6 inch blocks in place of the heart, I’m not going to cut out all of the background pieces that are in the 6 inch block section. Those will waitย until I know exactly which blocks I’ll be using in the centers…
Using Cutting Templates
I made a video that explains how to use the cutting templates and a few tricks for this pattern.
Now you’re set to cut out all your fabric! Use the techniques in the video to make the process fast and efficient and you’ll be done in no time!
What to do AFTER you've cut out your fabric...
I made this quick video to share what I do with my fabrics after I’ve cut it all out! These are one of my most favorite tools when quilting!
Stay tuned for the next post where we’ll go over paper piecing your fabrics and how using the cutting templates makes piecing even easier!
Be sure to share your blocks that you’re making with us! Tag me on Instagram (@fromblankpages) and use #fbpHomeLovin and #fbpPatterns, or share your blocks in the From Blank Pages Community group on Facebook!
[…] Once you have your fabrics picked out and finalized, it’s time to get ready to cut! So grab your rotary cutter, cutting templates, and fabric and head over to your cutting mat! But don’t start yet! I’ll talk all about cutting templates and cutting your fabric in the next post! […]