What are Quilting Rulers?

Quilting Rulers

There are Quilting Rulers specifically made for quilters and are most often used in conjunction with a rotary cutter and self healing mat. These rulers are clear acrylic, marked in 1/8th inch intervals and may have a non-slip coating or non-slip pads on one side. There are a variety of shapes and sizes of quilt rulers and they often have angle lines. Some rulers are for cutting specialty shapes or for trimming blocks to a specific size, like a half square triangle. Rulers are an important tool for quilters.

Benefits of Rulers

Quilting Rulers are necessary to use with a rotary cutter.
A Ruler with easy to see markings makes accurate cutting possible.
Quilting Rulers are often specialized for trimming blocks or cutting specific shapes.

Tools and Supplies for Rulers

The most common Quilting Rulers are:

A long Ruler, 18" to 24" long, for cutting strips and to even up a quilt edge before binding.
A Ruler to square up blocks. Start with a square ruler the same size as the blocks in your quilt with a diagonal line to help ensure the block is accurate.
A Ruler for cutting wider strips, 6" by 12", that also works well when cutting fat quarters and folded fabric.
A trimming Ruler, 3" by 7", perfect for trimming an edge on a block and to have by your sewing machine to check for that perfect 1/4" seam.
Specialty Rulers, the most common are for HST's, half square triangles, one of quilting's most basic blocks.

Additional supplies used with quilting Rulers are:

A Ruler rack to hold the most frequently used rulers.
Glow line tape is easily added and removed, to mark on the ruler where you are cutting.
Gripers or handles to firmly hold the ruler in place while cutting.
Anti-slip tape or non-slip adhesives if your rulers are not Non-Slip Quilting Rulers.