Here in my little corner of the quilty world, there is one notion I can never get enough of - rulers! There’s a new project coming out, you say. It’s most easily done with this special ruler, you say. I’ll take 2! Hah! Kidding, but only a kind of. I love using the right tool for the right job and that is my perspective on the wide world of quilting rulers out there. I’d love to explore with you the many types and uses for quilting rulers.

We’ll have another day (or several) for talking about specialty rulers, but for now, we’ll go to a classic. Let’s consider the square ruler.

Square rulers come in a big variety of sizes - I’ve seen everything from 1½” all the way up to 20½”. Thinking about the ends of the spectrum, I might ask, what on earth does one do with a 1½” square ruler?! It’s so small, can you even hold it steady? But I’ve no doubt that there is a project out there for which it is the perfect choice.

If we hang out in the more common spectrum of sizes, we can address some fundamental questions.

When should I use a square ruler instead of something else like a standard rectangular ruler?

• Square rulers are particularly helpful for squaring up unfinished blocks
• Square rulers can make it easier to cut square pieces with fewer errors
• Square rulers are helpful for trimming HSTs
• On the flip side, a rectangular ruler is more useful when cutting strips and/or when cutting directly from yardage

If I’m only going to have one square ruler, what size should it be?

The first square ruler to get would be on the bigger, but not unwieldy side. My recommendation is to start with a 12½” square ruler. Here’s why:

• It’s big enough to square up common block sizes, like 8”, 10”, and 12” finished
• It’s not so big that you can’t also use it for smaller squares
• It’s more versatile than opting for a smaller ruler - you can use a larger ruler for smaller pieces, but you can’t use a smaller ruler for big pieces

Why would I want to have a bunch of different sizes of square rulers?

While true that one well-sized square ruler can go a long way, as you extend your quilting toolkit, it can be helpful to grow in your selection of square rulers. The biggest gain is in efficiency. With a selection of square rulers to choose from, you can:

• Pick the size most appropriate for the project at hand
• Use larger square rulers for the common purposes of squaring up blocks or cutting large pieces required for your project
• Use smaller square rulers to square up smaller blocks more efficiently
• Use smaller square rulers to more accurately and quickly trim HSTs

In my own collection, as of this writing, I have 12½”, 8½", 6½", and 4½” square rulers. I most commonly use the 12½”, primarily for squaring up blocks (at least lately). I’ve also found the 6½" ruler to be pretty handy while I'm piecing. 

Check out my top 5 must have rulers in this free PDF download.