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The rotary cutter has made a huge difference to cutting fabric, particularly for quilting. Although I still use scissors for cutting curves, I will always use my rotary cutter for cutting straight lines.

The beauty of it is that you can cut up to 4 layers of fabric at a time. Not only does this save time, but you are secure in the knowledge that the squares or triangles you have cut are exactly the same size as each other.

If you decide to buy a rotary cutter, then you really have to buy a mat and ruler at the same time. The blade of the cutter is very sharp and can only be used on a mat, never on a table.

The mat I use is 24" x 18" and is marked out with a grid of 1" squares. Mats with imperial measurements are by far the most common but it is possible to get them with metric grids as well. Usually they have markings for triangles as well so you can use them to cut different shaped triangles.

The choice in rulers is unbelievable. Again they are available in metric or imperial. They are made of strong plastic and they guide the rotary cutter along the line you wish to cut. The colour of the markings varies and this may influence your choice to buy. Some people might find yellow markings clearer to work with while someone else may find the black markings clearer.

Which brings us eventually to the rotary cutter itself. These vary in size of blade, type of handle, quality, colour etc. They all have shields to guard the blade but don't let your fingers get in the way while you are cutting - keep them firmly on the ruler.

Having decided on the width of cut you need to make in your fabric, line the edge of the fabric along one of the lines of the mat. You will almost certainly need to make one cut to trim the edge to make sure that all the edges are straight.

Hold the ruler down firmly with your left hand (keeping fingers on the ruler) and line the rotary cutter blade against the ruler just before the fabric edge nearest to you. Keeping the blade against the ruler, cut up the length of the fabric in the direction away from you.

Move the fabric strip that you have just cut away before you move the ruler because sometimes there are odd sections that may not have cut right through. It's easier to snip these while the ruler is still in place.

  Cutting half square triangles is easy with a rotary cutter 

The edge usually needs trimming before you begin.  Line the ruler up with the lines of the cutting board and make sure you cut away from yourself to prevent accidents.  Ensure you put the lock on the blade when you are not using it.

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