Hello, monkey house quilters! We're back with our second installment in the WTH Do I Do With This? 18" Square Quilters Select Ruler series: Trimming a Panel to Size. 

In our first installment, we reviewed how I use the Quilters Select 18" Square Ruler to square up and begin cutting a large panel. If you haven't read that post, go there first to see how we started this journey! 

So, to continue:

Tool We're Talking About: The Quilters Select 18" Square Ruler

How We're Using It: Trimming a Panel to Size

In today's post, we'll cover marking and measuring a large panel, and then cutting straight corners. If video is more your vibe, you can watch the entire tutorial on our YouTube channel.

Mark & Measure the Panel - First step prep

Follow along below for step-by-step instructions; follow along above for the queued video instructions.

I want to straighten up a large panel that I need to cut to size. 

Step 1: I'm using the Quilters Select 36" x 2.5" yardstick ruler to find and mark the middle of my panel, which is 16 1/4". 

Step 2: I used a Clover Chalk Pen to mark two midway points—one above and one below the ruler.

Step 3: I then used my yardstick ruler to connect the two points with a straight line, for added clarity and visual reference.

Measuring + Cutting Straight Corners

Click above to watch the instructions below queued in the video.

I want a really straight corner for my panel. It's time for the Quilters Select 18" Square Ruler!

Step 1: I need to find the 16 1/4" measurement on my big Quilter's Select 18" square ruler and line it up with the middle marking on my panel.

Pro Tip: I always cut the middle first, because it's easier to measure and maneuver.

I'm not cutting the top, because we haven't measured it yet. Instead, I'm going to cut the right-hand side as shown. And, since the ruler extends so far, I can use it to line up my middle point and cut the right-hand side (WTH Do I Do with This, answered!!)

The one really important thing to pay attention to BEFORE you cut is what your fabric is doing underneath your ruler. Remember: fabric is fluid. If you look at my fabric below, at that borderline between the dragon brickwork and the outside scrollwork,  it's skewing slightly, and not lining up with the ruler line:

Step 2: To fix this, I use the lines on my ruler to realign the lines on my fabric, gently tugging the fabric into place underneath the ruler.

It's important at this point to keep referencing back and forth between your middle (that 16 1/4" point, for me) and the edge to make sure everything is straight and aligned. There are no shortcuts here, you just have to stay on top of it visually! And use my patented tiny tug technique (TTT, patent pending) to align everything.

Pro Tip: Do not do this when hungry. Do not do this when tired. Do not do this when in a general state of annoyance. This particular step takes time, energy, and a whole lotta patience. If you don't have those things, come back to it later!! 

Step 3: After doing some tiny tugs, my panel is now straight:

And again, because I'm using such a big ruler, I can see that I have a very nice 90-degree angle on my panel on the right, while remaining at the 16 1/4" midway point.

Step 4: Now I can cut my right-hand side. 

Cutting the Other Side of the Panel

Click the above queued video to watch the instructions below in action.

Step 1: With my right side nicely measured and cut, I'm going to use the Quilters Select 36" x 2.5" yardstick ruler to measure the full size of the panel I want to cut: 32 1/2" (or, 16 1/4" + 16 1/4")

I place the 32 1/2" mark on the cut right side, at the end, and it shows my 16 1/4" measurement right on the mark I made in the middle. Success!

Step 2: It's time to use the power of my big rulers combined! I leave my yardstick ruler measuring the panel width, and take the 18" square ruler and place it at a right angle on the left-hand side:

Step 3: I can now cut my left-hand side, knowing the right angle created by my two rulers has ensured a straight cut. I remove the yardstick ruler, and cut along the 18" square ruler on the left.

Step 4: To double check that my measurement is correct, I use my yardstick ruler to measure across again. It's off by approximately 1/8". I can trim that off, no problem!

Stay tuned for part three in this series: trimming a quilt on point using the Quilters Select 18" square ruler and the Quilters Select 36" x 2.5" yardstick ruler.