So you’ve quilted your heart out all the way to this point. Spent hours cutting, piecing, basting, and even made it through the quilting phase. Now, it’s time to square the quilt.

And now you’re looking at your precious quilt thinking “This thing came out so wonky, I have no idea what I’m doing”

I’m here to tell you:

It’s not you, it’s the quilt. 

There’s a whole step of this process dedicated to getting your quilt whipped back into a square shape.

And EVERY quilt goes through it. Professional or hobbiest. So don’t despair! 

So let’s get started, today I’m going to walk you through the process of squaring your quilt so it turns out a perfect square. 

Supplies

Square quilting ruler 
Long rectangular ruler
Rotary cutter
Cutting mat

Find a Corner

Okay! The first step is to find a corner of your quilt. This is where we’ll start trimming.

The quilting process pulls and pushes your quilt top, so when you get to this point it have a few waves to it.

Because of the inconsistency in the pushes and pulls during quilting, we can’t just trim away the excess batting. Or we’ll just stay out of square.

Instead we know the inner seams are going to be straight, so we want to use an inner seam in the quilt top as a reference to square up the quilt.

This will make all of the outer blocks the same dimensions again.

So step one: Take your square ruler and line it up with the two inside seams of this reference inside the quilt.

In my case I’ll be using the left and top seams of my corner block.

Since we don’t know exactly where the wide parts and narrow parts really are in the quilt, using a seam will help us stay consistent.

From your seam, measure out the length you want to square to.

You want to line up that ruler so it has the same seam allowance around the outside edge of the corner block.

For example, my blocks in this quilt measured 4.5″ square.

To have a finished block size of 4 1/2″ square after the 1/4″ binding is applied to the outside edge, I’ll have to add 1/4″ to my final block size and measure 4 3/4″ from that seam to both outside edges.

You might have to shimmy the quilt back and forth a little bit to get it to fit in those markings. 

Ideally, you should have quilt top extending beyond both edges of the quilt to trim off.  Like in my quilt above, it might not be the same amount extending on both sides.

That’s okay. Cutting off more on one side than the other is how we get back in square.

Start Trimming

From here, carefully use your rotary cutter and cutting mat to trim off one side of the ruler. 

ProTip: We are going through a ton of layers here. Having a good and sharp rotary cutter will help keep this process easy. This is my favorite one if you don’t have one yet.

Stop when you get close, but not past, to the top of the square ruler. Keep the square ruler in place.

Time to grab the long ruler. 

The square one helps us with the corners but would likely be inefficient to use along the long edges of the quilt since it’s so short.

So the long one will be much easier to maneuver until we get to the next corner. 

Line up your long ruler bottom edge with the square ruler’s top edge. 

Your long ruler should measure the same seam allowance from your reference seam as your square ruler. 

Work with the quilt to get the long ruler to line up with that seam all the way up the length of the long ruler.

When you’ve got it, trim it right up! 

It’s okay if your quilt is so short at some points that the quilt top doesn’t make it beyond the quilt ruler. 

As long as it comfortably stays in the seam allowance for your binding, you’ll be fine. 

If it doesn’t stay in the seam allowance, you will have to start back at the beginning and trim more off. 

Continue the process until you get close to the next corner. Be sure to stop before you get there.

Rounding the corner

When you get close to the next corner, be sure to stop a bit early and grab your square ruler again. 

If you have to slide down the long ruler to get it out of the way, that’s okay, just be sure that it lines up with your seams and outside cut edges nicely. 

Place your square ruler at the top corner just like we did for the bottom corner matching up the widths on both sides of the corner using your reference seams. 

Trim off both the top and side edges using the ruler and you should have a beautiful square corner!

No more wonky corners.

At this point you can twist your quilt to make the trimming process easier, just replace that square ruler lining up all of your reference points when you get there. 

Line up your long ruler again like you did on the first side and you’re off!

Trim your way all the way around the quilt repeating these steps as you get to the corners and you’ll have a perfectly square quilt in no time! 

Once you are done squaring your quilt don’t forget to check out my post on how to make quilting binding to finish up your quilt!

Harley the kitty refused to leave the quilt during picture time. Interested in seeing this quilt finished and close up? Check out my completed Cathedral Window quilt here!

Questions or hiccups in the process? Add them to the comments below and I’ll be sure to help!

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