Quilting cutting with rotary cutter and ruler photo

Two Quilting Rulers that Will Make You 100% Better at Cutting Fabric

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Photo of quilter using ruler and rotary cutterTrying to cut fabric strips and squares so they turn out straight and square — and failing a good part of the time — is a huge frustration for many new quilters. (More experienced ones, too!)

If you have trouble keeping your ruler from sliding out of alignment while you cut, or your rotary cutter veers off course, or your cuts end up too narrow or too wide, there are two cutting rulers that can really help. Both rulers have preset slots in them that keep your cuts straight and true.

The first one is the Creative Grids Stripology Ruler.

Creative Grids Stripology Slotted Cutting Ruler Template photo
Creative Grids Stripology Slotted Cutting Ruler Template

The second one is the June Tailor Shape Cut Pro.

June Tailor Shape Cut Pro slotted cutting ruler photo

We use both rulers in our quilting room. They both work in the same basic way: you lay your fabric on your cutting mat and align the ruler on top, then put your rotary cutter blade in the measured slots in the ruler to cut strips or squares, quickly and precisely. You can use either of these rulers to cut your own jelly roll strip sets, five-inch charm packs, ten-inch layer cake packs, and other shapes.

The slots in the rulers guide your rotary cutter and make your cuts turn out perfectly. The rulers also make cutting much faster because you don’t have to reposition your ruler after each cut. Neither one is cheap (think $50+U.S.), but the only faster and more accurate way to cut is to use a die-cutting machine like the Accuquilt, which costs hundreds of dollars.

Stripology Ruler from Creative Grid

Key features:

  • Size. 22″ x 15″.
  • Distance between slots: 1/2″
  • More durable and flexible plastic
  • No-slip surface on back side
  • The Stripology ruler is so narrow that it can be challenging to fit a folded width of fabric inside the cutting area.

Watch the video below to see exactly how to use the Stripology ruler.


Shape Cut Pro by June Tailor

Key features:

  • Size. 20″ x 23″, much larger than the Stripology ruler, and large enough that you can cut pretty large pieces of fabric without folding them. (The Shape Cut line of rulers also includes smaller versions., but we prefer the large one.)
  • Distance between slots: 2-1/2″.
  • Material. The plastic in the Shape Cut Pro is flimsier than the Stripology ruler. In fact, our ruler bent and cracked into two pieces on the bottom edge, which has been an annoyance. We used washi tape to tape the broken section together and still use it that way. The Shape Cut Pro is also more slippery than the Stripology ruler, although that didn’t make our cutting inaccurate.

Watch the video below to see how to use the Shape Cut Pro. We apologize for the poor video quality, but this is the official June Tailor video, and the best only one we could find.

Featured photo by Aardvark Ethel, Flickr.

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9 Comments

  1. I have a ?- I bought a lot of charm square packs and 21/2 ” strips, thinking it would help me with my cutting problems. They all have saw-tooth edges and I find them more difficult to sew a 1/4″ seam on. Do I just cut them off? or what?

    1. Hi Sally,

      Don’t try to trim them! That would be way too much work and would make your precuts the wrong size. Here’s some advice I got from the Quilting Board forum:

      “Place the straight cut pieces on the bottom with the pinked edge pieces on top- with the pinked points just barely (a thread or two shy) of the edge of the straight edge- then use the straight edge to line up your 1/4″ seam allowance.”

      If you’re sewing together two precuts with pinked edges, I would measure the 1/4″ seam from the outer points of the pinking.

      Hope that helps! Christine

  2. I have a June Taylor Shape Cut. I have put some non-slip strips on the side of my ruler and it helps quite a bit from the mat shifting when I’m cutting. I just go slow and get great cuts. I can fit a lot of fabric under it when cutting which I really like. I didn’t know about the Stripolgy Ruler. I may try to get on of those also. It would be very handy when the family comes to help me cut fabric for quilts.

    1. The no-slip strips are a great idea. We’ll have to try that on our Shape cut. I like the size of the cutting slits on the Shape Cut much better than the Stripology ruler. Wish the plastic was better quality, though.

  3. I have the June Taylor ruler and can’t get accurate cuts. The strips end up too narrow. Don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Suggestions?

    1. It’s hard to know without seeing you cut, but a couple of questions occur to us: 1) is the ruler slipping while you cut? and 2) Do you have the rotary cutter blade straight up and down while you cut? Either of these problems might make the strips come out the wrong size, although it doesn’t seem easy to do. Sorry you’re having this problem.

  4. This is my first time at leaving a comment, so I hope I don’t offend any one. I love the look of those stripology rulers and am definitely going to get myself one. I also just love the Pansy blocks , although, being an Australian may exclude me from entering.the comp, I just thought I would let you know . Cheers to all. Pat

  5. All of this is so exciting for a beginner quilter. I love the block with the pansies since they were my grandmother’s favorite flower.

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