Welcome to the Wyld Whirl Quilt Along! My name is Tawnee, I am the owner of Wyldwood Creative, and I’ll be taking you through each step of making the Wyld Whirl Quilt. We’ll break it down into 7 parts and cover every single step of the process from selecting fabric to labeling and binding your quilt.
Week 2 Quilt Along Task
Welcome to Week 2 of the Wyld Whirl Quilt Along! This week, we’ll be focusing on pressing and cutting our fabric – key steps to achieving precision in your quilting projects. If you’re just joining us or want to catch up on any previous steps, be sure to check out the full Wyld Whirl Quilt Along page. You’ll find everything you need to follow along, from fabric selection tips to all the fun details about the quilt-making journey.
Let’s dive in!
1. Pressing Your Fabric
We’ll start by pressing the fabric. This is an essential step that really shouldn’t be skipped! Here are some helpful tips:
- Iron Settings: Use a hot, dry iron. This provides the best results for pressing fabric.
- Starch Spray: I like using a starch spray to stiffen the fabric, making it easier to cut accurately. You can make your own homemade starch spray with a simple mixture of water and vodka in a spray bottle. If DIY isn’t your style, products like Best Press or Flatter work great too. There’s some really fun scent options from Flatter.
- Ironing Technique: Spray your fabric generously with your starch spray, and then gently run the iron back and forth until the fabric is completely dry. Avoid swirling the iron around, go back and forth in the same direction to avoid distorting the fabric. Use a light touch, letting the weight of the iron do the work. Pressing too hard with the iron will stretch the fabric. Well-pressed fabric is key to making cutting much easier and more accurate.
2. Cutting
Let’s get into cutting! We'll be working from a cutting chart provided in the pattern.
Cutting Tools Overview
Before we begin cutting, make sure you have the following tools:
- Self Healing Cutting Mat: Essential for using a rotary cutter. These come in a large variety of sizes. I prefer an 18” X 24” or larger for quilting.
- Rotary Cutter: I like Olfra brand cutters but there are many options out there. Be sure to change the blade when it starts skipping or you find that you are having to press really hard to make cuts.
- Acrylic Ruler: I’ll be demonstrating with two different ruler sizes, so you can follow along regardless of what ruler you have on hand. I love the fun ruler from Feral Notions!
Precision Cutting Tips
Accuracy is key in quilting! Here are a few tips for precision:
- Visualize the Process: I like to work from the outside in when cutting fabric. For this pattern, I usually layer and cut three fat quarters at a time, but if you're new to quilting, start with just one until you feel comfortable. This pattern and many others will include a cutting diagram. If the pattern you're working with does not include a diagram it can be helpful to sketch one.
- Align Your Ruler Perfectly: Always take the time to ensure your ruler is aligned properly with the fabric. Even being slightly off can cause uneven pieces, which can make piecing things together more difficult.
- Slow Down: Quilting is a skill that takes time to master. Don’t rush through the cutting process. Taking the time to achieve consistent and square cuts will make the rest of the process much easier.
- Hand Placement: Place your hand in the middle of the ruler with your pinky off the edge of the ruler. This adds stability to your hand.
- Cutting Direction: Always start toward your body and cut away from yourself. Apply firm even pressure as you cut. It will take some practice to learn the right pressure to hold the ruler and the rotary cutter with. Be patient with yourself!
- Left Handed: If you’re left handed you can move the blade to the other side of your rotary cutter to make it work in your left hand. Reverse the directions in the cutting instructions.
- Lighting: Good lighting makes seeing what your doing much easier and will cause less eye strain. Try cutting next to a window or using an extra light.
Steps for Cutting Fat quarters for the Wyld Whirl:
- 1- You will need a rotary cutter, cutting mat, and ruler
- 2- Lay your fat quarter out with the selvedge edge at the bottom. Trim the right long side of your fat quarter to create a straight edge.
- 3- Gently, using two hands, rotate the fat quarter 180 degrees. The selvedge edge should be at the top.
- 5- Using the measurements on the ruler, cut a 3" strip from the left long side of the fat quarter.
- 7- Trim the top selvedge edge off of the 3" strip you just cut.
- 8- Using the 15" mark on your ruler, or measuring 15" on your mat, cut the strip to 15" label as piece D and set aside.
- 9- Gently rotate the fat quarter 90 degrees to the left. the selvedge edge should be on the left
- 9.5- Trim the right short side of the fat quarter. Trim off as little as possible to create a straight edge.
- 10- Gently rotate the fat quarter 180 degrees. The selvedge should be on your right.
- 11-13 Measuring 3" on your ruler or on your cutting mat, cut 3) 3" strips.
- 14- Separate one strip from the set.
- 15- using the 10" measurement on your ruler or using your cutting mat, measure to cut strip to 10" Label as "B"
- 16- Cut the remaining two 3” strips to 12.5" label as "C"
- 17- Cut two 6" strips from remaining fabric
- 19- Don't worry if you are cutting into the selvedge this will be trimmed off later when we make Half Square Triangles
- 20- Rotate your cutting mat 90 degrees or move around your table 90 degrees so that the selvedge edge is at the top.
- 21- Using your ruler or the measurements on the mat cut strips into 6" squares. Label them "A"
- 24- Congratulations! You have successfully cut your fat quarter. If you're feeling confident try layering 2-3 fat quarters to speed up cutting.
Final Touches and Tips
After cutting the pieces you need, make sure to label them! It’s easy to get confused if your pieces aren’t labeled, especially when working on more complex quilts. I like to use Wonder Clips to keep everything organized.
Hot Tip: Cut your binding fabric at this stage while you have all your cutting tools out
Finally, if you made any mistakes during cutting, don’t stress! Quilting is forgiving, and there’s almost always a way to fix it. Here’s some tips if you cut something wrong.
- Don't sweat it! Cutting mistakes happen to all quilters.
- Sew the pieces back together! You're just getting a jump on piecing
- Replace with a different fabric. This is a scrappy quilt, throw in a coordinating piece and no one will ever know.
- Cry
- Get more fabric and try again. Now you have an excuse to go to the fabric store!
I hope this tutorial offers you some helpful tips for cutting. Above all, just be patient with yourself as you learn a new skill. Sucking at something is part of getting good at it!
Once you’ve cut all of your fabric pieces, you’re ready for the next step! Join me next week for Week 3, where we’ll tackle making half-square triangles. These are a quilter’s bread and butter and are so fun to make!
See you next week!
Tawnee
Follow the whole series:
Week 5: Assembling the Quilt Top
