Newer quilters can be easily confused by the two types of rulers used in making quilts: a. cutting rulers and b. quilting rulers. They are not the same and could not be more different due to the jobs they perform and their thickness. Let’s talk about it.

Cutting Rulers vs. Quilting Rulers – Everything you Need to Know

While both of these ruler types are made from acrylic and have markings on them, that is where the similarities end.

Cutting Rulers

A photo of a Creative Grids 6 1/2" x 24 1/2" long cutting ruler for quilting.

Cutting rulers are 4mm (5/32”) thick. They tend to be fully marked with inches and portions of inches, frequently down to eighths of an inch. Used with a rotary cutter, cutting rulers are used to line up with your fabric so you can cut fabric to the size you need.

Cutting rulers should never be substituted for a quilting ruler. Since they are only 4mm high, they can easily slide under your presser foot, running into the needle usually resulting in shattering of the needle and throwing out the timing on your machine. This will equal an expensive trip to your sewing machine mechanic.

Quilting Rulers

Image is the Slim quilting ruler designed by Angela Walters and manufactured by Creative Grids Rulers. Text reads: Quilting Ruler

Quilting rulers must be used with a specialty ruler foot on either your domestic sewing machine or a long arm machine. Quilting rulers are 6mm (¼”) in height. While quilting rulers are also made of acrylic, the types and number of markings on them are fewer. Like the photo above, there are guides marked to help you quilt.

Quilting rulers can be found in many shapes, everything from straight rulers to clam shells to orange peels and much more. By riding a ruler foot next to the ruler you can easily create beautiful shapes without the hassle of free motion quilting.

Ruler Brands

My preferred cutting rulers are made by Creative Grids. They are clear and have easy to read markings in both white and black. This way, depending on the colour of fabric you are cutting, you will easily be able to identify the edge of your fabric. Many rulers come with only black markings which is horrible when you are trying to cut black or other dark coloured fabrics. Creative Grids rulers also have a non-slip grip on the back of their rulers. This will save you miss cut fabric and the need to purchase more fabric.

My preferred quilting rulers are Angela Walter’s rulers also made by Creative Grids. My favourite is Slim which is a straight edge ruler with one slightly curved end. I have used this ruler a lot for straight line quilting. Like their cutting rulers, the markings are printed in both black and white so you can easily see, and the non-slip on the back means the ruler is far less likely to slip.

My Final Thoughts

I hope you found value in Cutting Rulers vs. Quilting Rulers – Everything you Need to Know. It is important to differentiate cutting rulers from a quilting rulers. Please do not use a cutting ruler as a quilting ruler (yes, even though there are videos online showing how to do this). It just isn’t worth the potential damage to your machine, nor the possibility of a shattered needle hitting you in the eye.

An Update

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