Quilting Tip: Using Two Rulers Together

I love my rotary cutter and perspex quilt rulers. I’d be lost without them on my cutting table! I love patchwork and these are the tools I use to create straight cuts and perfect pieces for my projects. In fact I use them for most of my small sewing projects when I’m cutting straight lines.

But sometimes they are not quite wide enough.

I have a 12.5″ square ruler and a long 6.5″ x 24″ ruler. This long ruler is perfect for cutting across the width of most fabric when it is folded in half. The square ruler is great for cutting smaller strips, rectangles and squares up to 12.5″.

How to Use Two Quilt Rulers Together

But what about cutting, say, a 17″ wide strip? Nether of my rulers are large enough but here’s the trick: you can use them together!

First a little math:

• Long ruler = 6.5″ wide
• Square ruler = 12.5″ wide
• Together = 19″ wide

So to cut a strip 17″ wide, lay the two rulers together with the long one on the side where you want to cut – for me that’s the right-hand side. Make sure the two are resting against each other without any gap.

Then slide them to the left so that the edge of the fabric is in line with the 2″ line of the square ruler (like my picture).

Now instead of 19″ wide, you will only cut 17″ because 2″ of your ruler width is off the fabric.

Here’s the math again: 19 (the total width of the rulers) minus 17 (the width I want to cut) = 2 (the amount to slide off the fabric)

If you wanted to cut 14″, let 5″ slide off the edge of the fabric. (19 minus 15 = 5)

All ready to cut!

Tip: Always remember to use a cutting mat under your rulers to protect your tabletop.

Different size rulers?

If you have different size rulers, just do your math in the same way:

• Width of ruler one = ??
• Width of ruler two = ??
• Together (“total ruler width”) = ??
• Total ruler width minus the width you want to cut = ?? (the amount you want to slide off the edge of your fabric)