Rotary cutter

Quilters use rotary cutters with specially designed templates and rulers made of approximately 3.2 mm (0.125 in) thick clear or color-tinted plastic.

The first rotary cutter was introduced by the OLFA company in 1979 for garment making, however, it was quickly adopted by quilters.

Prior to the invention of the rotary cutter, quilters traced handmade templates of the necessary shapes onto the wrong side of the fabric and added 6.4 mm (0.25 in) seam allowances all around.

The rotary cutter gained almost immediate widespread use among quilters after its introduction and, along with the accompanying development of strip techniques, revolutionized quilting.

Cutters come in a variety of handle types and some include specialty blades to cut curved or zigzagged lines.