Think about your rulers

    I just finished a presentation on my guild on being Ruler Smart. I still have to put all the stuff away, yikes. The idea is- be smart about what rulers you buy, why you buy them, and how could they be used in a way to be quicker and more accurate. I have made my share of mistakes, and I have also bettered my craft.
    One example that I just discovered is how to improve the normal technique for cutting Double Pinwheels. A while back, I found this excellent tutorial using strips. I made a sample and stuck it aside. When working on the presentation, it dawned on me that I could use the Easy Angle Ruler to do a quicker, more accurate job.
    I started the same way, seaming two strips and pressing to the dark.

Strips nested on top, opposite values.

     But then, instead of cutting into squares, and drawing a line diagonally, sewing 1/4" away both sides of the line which I find hard to mark, sew without a guide, and not have those seams rocking on me, I took the ruler and cut the two together, flipping the ruler down the strip. One edge is blunted, making it easier to sew, handle, and keep a consistent 1/4". The whole nested strip set is cut.

Done with the EZ angle ruler.

I drew pencil lines to show you where I was going to cut. This one is with Bonnie Hunter's ruler- either one works.

     The results are very accurate with little or no trimming.

     So, remember be Ruler Smart, and you can discover a better way to get where you want.

Trying it on

     I was looking through Pinterest (huge time sucker) and found a block I liked, but had to do a lot of digging to find out the name and a tutorial. I pulled out some strips and made the block and it was wrong- it needed mirror image blocks- not in the tutorial. Fortunately, I figured out how to mark the strips to get what I needed. I sewed two of them together and left the other pieces to combine with other colors. I do want to make more. They use 2 1/2" strips and the block finishes at 7".  It is called Two strip pinwheel or Double pinwheel.

Yes, I know the center is not perfect.