Thursday, April 19, 2012

Sullivan Ruler Review

Waaaaay back at Fall Market I got one of the Sullivan rulers from Pat Sloan and have been playing with it ever since.
I've had trouble doing a review because I was thinking how can I accurately say anything about the sharpness of the blade when I didn't really know how quickly I was going through them before, along with several other variables.
Well, I haven't figured that part out but I did think of lots of other things to say that may help you decide if you need to have one of these too.

 First is the sound. This was a HUGE thing for me as I cannot stand the sound of metal on metal or any other hard surface. Someone dragging their fork across their teeth sends shivers down me and makes me physically ill. So you can understand how concerned I was about the sound.
Turns out its fine. It sound more like sand beneath your heel then anything else. It is a bit loud but nothing I couldn't deal with, which says something considering the number and severity of headaches, it also didn't set off Little Bit, who has auditory integration issues.

The sharpening part is only on the right side of the long edge.

Second was actually looking at the blade (an Ofla). I've had the blade on my cutter since December. I know because I wrote it on to make sure I'd know. It has no nicks or scratches, and from looking at my older, duller blades I know that they have tons. So it definitely smooths the blade as it cuts.

I know I haven't been cutting as much, and I have two different cutters depending on which I can find, but I have made about 5 quilt tops so I'm going to go and say it does keep it sharper longer. I really don't think I've kept a blade this long. It seems to have worked better with the Olfa blade then the Dritz, but that is also possibly a usage issue.

The back of the ruler has little grips which does help the ruler from slipping on the fabric, but not so much that it doesn't easily move across it.

The one issue I did have with the ruler is the way it is numbered. It reads right to left, so 6.5" to 0" the same as most rulers, but the 1/2" lines are red, where the inch and 1/4" lines are black. More then a few times I miss cut because for whatever reason my brain kept saying the red should be the inch line. This is a me issue I think but I did want to say something about it.

Overall I'd say if you're looking for a new ruler, replacing old ones etc it is definitely worth your while to check these out!

3 comments:

Shannon Wallace said...

Thank you for your review! I didn't know these types of rulers even existed! :)

Pieces to Love said...

Great review, I have been wanting one of these rulers, but haven't wanted to put forth the money on one quite yet.

KatieQ said...

Thanks for your very honest review.