3) Preparing and Cutting

The techniques laid out in Maxine's book are what we use religiously. In fact, we always pull the book back out and follow along when we reach the cutting stage.. We don't REALLY forget between quilts. ;-) It's just that when you're cutting into 4+ yards of fabric, and there is no room for error, a checklist is a good thing.

The old carpentry adage applies here. "Measure twice and cut once"

A couple of points...

• Don't pre-wash your fabric. You need the sizing applied by the manufacturer to help align the pattern. If you pre-wash, its never going to go together right.

• No fussy cutting allowed. :-). If you move your triangles over so you get that "perfect" pattern piece, a) you've cheated and b) it's not going to work out like you thought anyway. The unique pieces look great alone, but tend to stand out amoungst the rest of the pieces.

At this stage we often break our stacks of triangles into two piles to make two different quilts. See Snowy Night and Haley's Winter Return. Same fabric, different borders, and entirely different quilts. Again, don't cheat. Divide your strips into two different piles BEFORE you cut them into triangles, and don't mix them in attempt to "put all the pretty ones in this pile...." OK, maybe a tiny bit of swapping is allowed, but not now. Later, once it's up on the design wall, and you have a "hole that needs filling" or a hexagon that just doesn't fit.