Table Of ContentBeginner Level
Cut to It
Strategies for Smarter Quilting
WITH DEBBIE CAFFREY
Debbie Caffrey
Debbie Caffrey has been teaching quilting
nationwide since 1983. She’s taught at events
such as International Quilt Festival (Houston,
Rosemont and Long Beach), Minnesota Quilters
Conference, The Road to California, and many
more. Debbie is the self-published author of
14 books on quilting, the designer of dozens of
quilt patterns and more than 250 mystery quilt
patterns. She has also contributed many articles
to publications such as Traditional Quiltworks
magazine, as well as appearing on both HGTV's
Simply Quilts and QNNtv.com’s Quilter’s Coffee.
www.craftsy.com
Cut to It: Strategies
for Smarter Quilting
with Debbie Caffrey
Fine-Tuning Your Rotary Cutting Skills
Sewing Test for Seam
Allowances
The success of your quilt dep-
ends upon precise ¼" (6 mm)
seam allowances. It is a good
idea to check your seam
allowances before beginning.
Sewing test 4½" (3.8 cm) square
Test: Cut four rectangles that
measure 1½" × 4½" (3.8 cm × measure exactly 4½" (3.8 cm)
11.4 cm). Sew them together square. If it does not, adjust
along the long edges. Press your seam allowance and
the seam allowances to one repeat the test.
side. The finished piece should
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1
Target-Number Tables
1 1¼" 1½" 1¾" 2¼" 2½" 2¾"
2 2½" 3" 3½" 4½" 5" 5½"
3 3¾" 4½" 5¼" 6¾" 7½" 8¼"
4 5" 6" 7" 9" 10" 11"
5 6¼" 7½" 8¾" 11¼" 12½" 13¾"
6 7½" 9" 10½" 13½" 15" 16½"
7 8¾" 10½" 12¼" 15¾" 17½" 19¼"
8 10" 12" 14" 18" 20"
9 11¼" 13½" 15¾" 20¼"
10 12½" 15" 17½"
11 13¾" 16½" 19¼"
12 15" 18"
13 16¼" 19½"
14 17½" 21"
15 18¾"
1 17/8" 23/8" 27/8" 33/8" 37/8" 43/8"
2 3¾" 4¾" 5¾" 6¾" 7¾" 9¾"
3 55/8" 71/8" 85/8" 101/8" 115/8" 145/8"
4 7½" 9½" 11½" 13½" 15½" 19½"
5 93/8" 117/8" 143/8" 167/8" 193/8"
6 11¼" 14¼" 17¼" 20¼"
7 131/8" 165/8" 201/8"
8 15" 19"
9 167/8"
10 18¾"
11 205/8"
2
Diamond Template
Place panels right sides to- The sections have been
gether on top of another flipped over to sew. Use one
panel, as shown below. Use of each of the units to make
the 45-degree line on your rul- a section like the one
er to trim the end as shown. shown below.
Measure 2" (5.1 cm) from the Note: The top section has been
trimmed edge and cut sec- rotated 180 degrees
tions 2" (5.1 cm) wide through
the pair of panels. Repeat
with the second panels to cut
a total of 24 pairs of sections
that are right sides together.
Press the seam allowances as
shown by the arrows. Repeat
to make a total of 24 sections.
Sew the pairs of sections to- Trim the ends of all the units as
gether to make 24 units like follows: measure ¾" (1.9 cm)
the one shown. Make sure from the seam line where fab-
that you are sewing down the rics 1 and 3 meet, and square
correct side and that the fin- up the bottom. Measure up
ished unit looks exactly like the 8½" (21.6 cm) from the newly
one below. Notice, the seam trimmed bottom and cut
allowances of the piece on the top.
top are pressed upwards.
3
“Striply Speaking”
Half-Square Triangle Chart
Using the Omnigrid 96 or 96L triangle tool
Finished size
of short side Width to Line to
Traditional cut
of half-square cut strip use on
size of squares
triangle to be used Omnigid 96
in place of or 96L trian-
squares gle tool
13/8" ½" 1" ½"
15/8" ¾" 1¼" ¾"
17/8" 1" 1½" 1"
21/8" 1¼" 1¾" 1¼"
23/8" 1½" 2" 1½"
25/8" 1¾" 2¼" 1¾"
27/8" 2" 2½" 2"
31/8" 2¼" 2¾" 2¼"
33/8" 2½" 3" 2½"
35/8" 2¾" 3¼" 2¾"
37/8" 3" 3½" 3"
41/8" 3¼" 3¾" 3¼"
43/8" 3½" 4" 3½"
45/8" 3¾" 4¼" 3¾"
47/8" 4" 4½" 4"
51/8" 4¼" 4¾" 4¼"
53/8" 4½" 5" 4½"
55/8" 4¾" 5¼" 4¾"
57/8" 5" 5½" 5"
61/8" 5¼" 5¾" 5¼"
63/8" 5½" 6" 5½"
4
Finished size
of short side Width to Line to
Traditional cut
of half-square cut strip use on
size of squares
triangle to be used Omnigid 96
in place of or 96L trian-
squares gle tool
65/8" 5¾" 6¼" 5¾"
67/8" 6" 6½" 6"
71/8" 6¼" 6¾" 6¼"
73/8" 6½" 7" 6½"
75/8" 6¾" 7¼" 6¾"
77/8" 7" 7½" 7"
81/8" 7¼" 7¾" 7¼"
83/8" 7½" 8" 7½"
85/8" 7¾" 8¼" 7¾"
87/8" 8" 8½ 8"
Quarter-Square Triangle Chart
Using the Omnigrid 98 or 98L triangle tool
Finished
size of long
Traditional Width to Line to
side of
cut size of cut strip use on
quarter-
squares to be used Omnigrid 98
square
in place of or 98L trian-
triangle
squares gle tool
2¼" 1" 1" 1"
2¾" 1½" 1¼" 1½"
3¼" 2" 1½" 2"
3¾" 2½" 1¾" 2½"
4¼" 3" 2" 3"
5
Finished
size of long
Traditional Width to Line to
side of
cut size of cut strip use on
quarter-
squares to be used Omnigrid 98
square
in place of or 98L trian-
triangle
squares gle tool
4¾" 3½" 2¼" 3½"
5¼" 4" 2½" 4"
5¾" 4½" 2¾" 4½"
6¼" 5" 3" 5"
6¾" 5½" 3¼" 5½"
7¼" 6" 3½" 6"
7¾" 6½" 3¾" 6½"
8¼" 7" 4" 7"
8¾" 7½" 4¼" 7½"
9¼" 8" 4½" 8"
9¾" 8½" 4¾" 8½"
10¼" 9" 5" 9"
10¾" 9½" 5¼" 9½"
11¼" 10" 5½" 10"
11¾" 10½" 5¾" 10½"
12¼" 11" 6" 11"
12¾" 11½" 6¼" 11½"
13¼" 12" 6½" 12"
6
“It's Hip to be Square”
Large Half-Square Blocks in Two Sections
Squared-up Size Cut size Finished size
Cut size of of Half-Square of each Sec- of UNIT
squares Block tion
4½" 4" 2" 1½"
5" 4½" 2¼" 1¾"
5½" 5" 2½" 2"
6" 5½" 2¾" 2¼"
6½" 6" 3" 2½"
7½" 7" 3½" 3"
Large Half-Square Blocks in Three Sections
Squared-up Size Cut size Finished
Cut size of of Half-Square of each Sec- size of UNIT
squares Block tion
5" 4½" 1½" 1"
5¾" 5¼" 1¾" 1¼"
6½" 6" 2" 1½"
7¼" 6¾" 2¼" 1¾"
8" 7½" 2½" 2"
9½" 9" 3" 2½"
11" 10½" 3½" 3"
7
Large Half-Square Blocks in Four Sections
Squared-up Size Cut Size Finished Size
Cut size of of Half-Square of Each of UNIT
squares Block Section
5" 4½" 11/8" 5/8"
6½" 6" 1½" 1"
7½" 7" 1¾" 1¼"
8½" 8" 2" 1½"
10½" 10" 2½" 2"
12½" 12" 3" 2½"
Calculating Custom Sizes
It is very simple to calculate a Once you have made those
custom size. decisions, use the following
worksheet to calculate your
First, determine your desired custom size. As an exam-
finished unit size. ple, I have illustrated how to
calculate cutting the large
Second, determine how many half-square triangle blocks
sections you will cut from the into four sections to make 2"
large half-square triangle (5.1 cm, finished size!) units.
blocks (2, 3, or 4). You can follow along by com-
paring the numbers.
8
