Good Morning, Quilters!
Today we will be joining the OLFA quilt-a-long celebrating the 40th anniversary of the rotary cutter, but first…
Welcome to all of the new quilters who have joined us in the last few weeks and those joining us from OLFA ! We are delighted you are here at Lori Kennedy Quilts!  LKQ is dedicated to bringing you all the best information about quilting with an emphasis on free motion machine quilting. There’s more about us here and be sure to check out the motif tutorial page!  Our newsletter sign up is in the sidebar!
Quilting Quiz
I don’t normally challenge new friends with a quiz, but today I thought a quick, Monday quiz would be fun!
True or False
- Early quilters traced cardboard templates and used scissors to cut each quilt piece.
- The rotary cutter was invented in 1959.
- The rotary cutter revolutionized quilting!
- OLFA means “quick cut” in Japanese.
Answers
- True. Early quilters used cardboard templates to trace and cut out each quilt piece with scissors. The templates were prone to distortion because of all the wear and were highly inaccurate!
- False. Yoshio Okado invented the rotary cutter in 1979. (How many of us were quilting before then?!)
- Absolutely true! The rotary cutter took the drudgery out of cutting quilt blocks and at the same time increased the accuracy of cutting multiple layers of fabric. I wonder how many quilters there would be today if every block had to be cut with scissors!
- False. OLFA is translated from two Japanese words and means “to break a blade”. In 1956 the OLFA company created a revolutionary snap-off blade cutter.
My OLFA Garden Block
To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the rotary cutter, OLFA decided to make a quilt. They asked several designers to create a block using OLFA cutters as the inspiration.
Those of you who have followed LKQ for awhile know, I LOVE flowers–so immediately I “saw” flowers!
My OLFA Garden Block
My block incorporates the fun new colors of the OLFA Splash rotary cutters in a cheerful floral design.
(Botanical name: Olfa whimsicalis)
Download the directions from the OLFA blog.
Find general directions for the quilt-a-long and learn how to post YOUR photos on the OLFA blog.
Tips for Stitching
I recommend cutting the background block slightly large-6-3/4″ and trimming after the applique is complete. This method allows for shrinkage that often occurs with applique.
You can easily resize this pattern to create a much larger block or simplify it by stitching just one flower.
Be sure add light batting under the large circles before applique. This step really gives the block “POP!”
A Free Motion, Raw Edge Quilt
You might also like a raw-edge applique project I created last year for OLFA. This project incorporated free motion quilting over the raw-edge shapes to create a quick little quilt. Find more tips for this project HERE
Quilt-a-longs
Quilt-a-longs are fun and a great way to learn new techniques from a variety of quilters. Be sure to check the OLFA website for more FREE blocks.
If you love free motion quilting, we have an all-new quilt-a-long coming in August!
A Few of My Favorite OLFA Supples
What’s In YOUR Quilted Garden?
Have YOU started the OLFA quilt-a-long?
Did YOU ever quilt without a rotary cutter?
Do YOU still have your first rotary cutter?
What’s YOUR favorite OLFA color?
We’d LOVE to hear!
Happy Whimsical Gardening!
YOUR quilt-garden elf,
Lorith
PS…This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase–at no additional cost to you–I may receive a little “pin-money”. Thank you for supporting LKQ in this way!
PPS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ. For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com. Thanks!
22 comments
Marta
I had wanted to quilt for years but dreaded the scissor/cardboard template method and so abstained. Then I saw
a lady using a rotary cutter at a festival demo. I bought one at a chain fabric store and quickly gave up trying to use it. Few years later, I showed it to a quilter and she informed me that a piece was missing in my cutter. (came that way in package when I bought it). I bought another one and have not looked back. My whole life has changed for the better. My quilting helped me get thru chemo/radiation in 2017-2018. I take my rotary cutters and my seam ripper with me every trip as I never know when I might need them. I have produced more quilts than I am years old now in my current 11 year journey quilting. And the best part is I am now working on a “customer” request.. the paying customer kind! Thank you Lord for giving Lori the talent and the desire to share her knowledge to teach the rest of us.
Holly Ann
I thought I got my first Olfa rotary cutter when I was still in High School; but I was married late 1976, so it must have been one of my personal indulgences during early married life when I still was sewing shirts for DH and clothes/home dec for myself. Of course I still use that cutter, but I like the more ergonomic handles of the newer ones. Like Juls, I also still have that long, skinny mat and, indeed, it was handy to slide along as one would cut out clothing patterns. Woe to the seamstress who forgot to move the mat along the cutting line — uffda!
Lori Kennedy Quilts
Holly, the first OLFA cutter was designed for seamstresses, but quilters quickly saw the advantage! I don’t remember the long skinny mat, though I do remember sliding the ruler…or not! LOL!
Carrie
Both blocks are pretty and I love the colors.
For the project you created last year, you assembled the sandwich before you applied the applique pieces. Is there a reason for doing it that way instead of fully completing the top first? Did you just want the stitching for the raw edge applique to show on the back, or is there an advantage to one way vs the other?
Also, though this may be answered in the directions for this years project. If you add batting under the applique pieces, do you need some kind of stabilizer underneath the fabric when stitching them on? Or are they also added after the sandwich is assembled?
Thanks
Lori Kennedy Quilts
Great question! In the earlier project, the applique pieces are not held down until they are stitched with the free motion embellishment. So the free motion stitching serves both to adhere the applique shapes and quilt the piece at the same time.
In this project, the shapes are appliqued down with hand stitching. Then the quilt is pieced and the quilting is completed.
In the current project, I added a lightweight batting underneath the large circles only to give them a little more dimension. The batting is between the circle and the background fabric of the block. No other stabilizer is necessary.
I hope that helps!?
Kari
I LOVE all these stories! I always wondered how my Great Grandma made those tiny perfect squares back in 1930! I inherited that quilt and is proudly hung in my home. This is what inspired me to start quilting. So very thankful ! Lori, when can we have a show and tell page? 🙂
eclecticnatureoflife
I took a quilting class in 1979 but we had no rotary cutters then. I guess they weren’t ready available yet. All was done with cardboard templates and then some plastic ones. I remember my first cutting mat had no lines on it. Still have it for sentimental reasons. Eventually we used that 1st mat when cutting wallpaper in the 1980’s. I still use Olfa rotary cutters. I am ambidextrous when it comes to the rotary cutter so Olfa is the perfect brand for me. Thank God for the ruler lines on the mats too. Thanks for the write up on Olfa history.
One more thing in looking at your flower pattern, I had a thought. When I saw the photo of cutting out batting circles for the flowers I was thinking, if it wasnt going to be washed, could you use those round makeup removers for padding instead.?
Ann Frances Giannini
That is the cutest quilt ever. I am going to play along. I still have my first rotary cutter. I have been quilting for 12 years so it’s not that old. I love Olfa products. I also love your blogs. I have learned some really fun long arm designs from your Pinterest page. Thanks so much Lori.
Ann in Las Vegas
Suzanne
Good Grief! I can’t imagine what it must have been like to piece with scissors only. I don’t have that kind of patience.
Rotary cutters are great. My first one was a little 28mm Olfa, but I found that a larger one was better for most piecing. The best size for me is the 45mm and I have several, some Olfa, some not. The Olfa colors are very pretty and I like the aqua, but I’d rather have a good sharp blade any day AND a protective glove. In my early days of quilting I twice came close to cutting off a finger and each time it involved visits to a hand surgeon.
Not doing that again!!
I still have my first little Olfa. I like making my own undies and lingerie and it’s perfect for that. It makes cutting knits SO much easier and because it’s little, it helps when cutting out small pieces and tight angles without the distortion I’d get if using scissors.
It would be fun to join a quilt-a-long but I have so many WIPs right now, I’d never get it done. I’ve also got several dĂ©cor projects I’m working on …pillows, window treatments, slip covers, and even replacing the elastic in a bathing suit for a friend of mine. And speaking of that – I should get back to the sewing machine!!
Patricia
My grandmother taught me how to quilt, she used to have “quilting bees”, ladies from her church sit around the quilting frame (made by my grandfather) set up in the living room, all the ladies would sit around the table & hand-stitch the quilt which would be given to a family in need in the church community … my grandmother never got to experience “rotary cutters” & many of today’s modern quilting tools & techniques, she would be so amazed! I love your “Rose & Dot” block, it is one of my favourite blocks that I made with the SS2 sew-along. I only have the small size Olfa cutter, but I couldn’t image working without it.
Rosanne Derrett
I’m in the UK and I quilted before rotary cutters and rulers. I bought my first rotary cutter around 1990 and it is still my go to 45mm cutter. It is regularly in use but we have gone through rather a lot of blades since then!
Connie Boulay
I made my first quilt in 1973, so a few years before rotary cutters. Even after they were invented, I didn’t know about them for a while. My first innovation after cardboard was using plastic from coffee can lids, etc. The first rotary ruler I used wasn’t really a ruler, just straight edge plastic of various widths (I still have them, although I don’t use them anymore, trying to figure out an alternate use for them!)
wannajava
I started quilting using cardboard templates and scissors. I was so excited when the first Olfa rotary cutter announced how it could cut a few layers of fabric at once and how accurate you could be. Yes I still have my first Olfa cutter and Matt. Time for the new Blue Matt.
Juls
I still have my first Olfa rotary cutter and a 6×18 mat purchased for the princely sum of $3.86 at a discount big box store in 1980. The price tag is still on it. I used the mat for cutting clothing- it is fabulous for sliding along under the cutting line! I taught my high school students to use this method and it is so much better than fighting with dull scissors. We also did a small quilt, which most gifted to their moms. I love my Olfa mats and cutters, the only brand I will use. I had to have the new 40th Anniversary Red cutter- it is so pretty!
Jacqui VMS
I started quilting in 1989 and had not heard of rotary cutters then. I did half of a quilt for my daughter from fabrics used to sew her clothes when I stumbled into a quilt shop advertising Quilt in a Day! What??? I took the class to see if that was true LOL. It was and I did that log cabin top in one day (of course the strips were all cut out beforehand). I finished my daughter’s quilt with the newly acquired rotary cutter. Very thankful for that rotary cutter. I still have my first Olfa cutter which I got from my elderly neighbour who had all the gadgets!
Lois Moran
I started quilting with scissors and cardboard templates! I just ordered the aqua rotary cutter, makes my heart sing! I love your books, Lori, and have used the Loose Screw design in small and large borders. I practice on rolls of adding machine tape that I pick up cheaply at a recycle shop. The flower in a square/triangle is also a favorite.
Cheri Cuff
Hello Lori! Thank you for sharing the history of the rotary cutter and this wonderful pattern. I clicked on the link to the pattern, but don’t seem to have any luck downloading (or “printing” and saving as a PDF). I have never had any issues downloading documents, patterns, etc. Any suggestions?
Sue
I’m one of the early quilters that made cardboard templates. Then template plastic came along, and it was so much easier to trace pattern directly on the plastic. Just went back to quilting again, and am still learning to use the rotary cutter. Such a difference! I got one when they first came out, but didn’t really understand how to use it.
Kimberly Anne Brandt
I quilted before rotary cutters and before I sewed blocks by machine :0) We’ve come a long way BABY!
Brenda @ Songbird Designs
Love your block! I remember the days before the rotary cutter! When I was growing up my grandparents had a little country store. My grandmother would save the cardboard candy boxes and draft patterns on them, cut them out and cut out her quilt pieces! I loved “helping” (LOL) her then, but wow, if I had to do that now!!! So thankful we’ve come a “long way, baby!!” I’m very grateful for all my wonderful quilting tools – especially my rotary cutters!!
Cheri
May need to start another project, this looks like fun!
I have held onto my MILs cardboard patterns. Her writing is on them and she had beautiful handwriting! I also have some blocks she started piecing together and wasn’t able to finish. I Started quilting before the rotary cutters came out and used plastic templates for my patterns. How times and fabrics have changed!
Allison Evrard
I can only imagine how difficult quilting was before the rotary cutter. My grandmother made templates out of egg carton cardboard that she shellacked to make them stiff. I still have some of them.
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