Sister's Choice Quilts

My interests are quilting, reading, cooking, family, decorating, and matters of style. I post regular quilting tutorials and book reviews of current fiction.

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Tools on Tuesday

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I had posted a few photos of my string blocks on Instagram, and my daughter was asking me to post a photo that would show the size of the block.  The blocks are made up of four 5 inch smaller blocks, that when sewn together, finish at one 10 inch block.

I have thrown myself into making the blue blocks and wanted to show you a ruler I have been using that I really like.

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This is the Simple Folded Corner ruler by Doug Leko.  I purchased it in a larger size when it first came out, but honestly when I make folded corner squares, they are usually tiny.  When this smaller version of the ruler came out I bought one and use it more than the larger size.

I was getting so tired of drawing lines on those darn little squares, when I remembered "Oh right.  I have that ruler…"

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This is what it looks like, and here is how you use it:

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Take one block unit and one folded corner square.

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Place your folded corner square precisely on the corner of the block unit.

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Position the ruler on top of the corner square, lining every edge up with the marks on the rulers.  Notice the dark solid diagonal line on the ruler, a quarter inch in from the edge of the ruler?  That solid line is going to be your stitching line, but nothing needs to be marked.  It is an exact quarter inch from the edge.

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Cut on that outside edge of the ruler.  Say "Thank you for coming" to the little yellow triangle you just cut off and throw it away.

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Sew as usual, using your quarter inch presser foot.

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And there you go.  Now for the "folded corner" thing.

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Fold it over and press.

That took longer to explain than to actually do.  I have to say, I get more accurate results with the ruler than I do with drawing those darn lines and stitching on them.

Hope your week got off to a good start!

33 responses to “Tools on Tuesday”

  4. Thanks for sharing that! I bought the larger one…before the mini one came out…grrr. Read the directions and just haven’t had the light bulb come on for its usefulness. Now I get it. You seemed to explain that clearer to me. 🙂 This is such a fun, colorful quilt you are making.

  5. Thanks for sharing that! I bought the larger one…before the mini one came out…grrr. Read the directions and just haven’t had the light bulb come on for its usefulness. Now I get it. You seemed to explain that clearer to me. 🙂 This is such a fun, colorful quilt you are making.

  6. Thanks for sharing that! I bought the larger one…before the mini one came out…grrr. Read the directions and just haven’t had the light bulb come on for its usefulness. Now I get it. You seemed to explain that clearer to me. 🙂 This is such a fun, colorful quilt you are making.

  7. How interesting!! I usually sew the cut-off triangle together (before cutting them off, of course) and have varying size small HSTs from the various projects. No waste.
    Hugs!

  8. How interesting!! I usually sew the cut-off triangle together (before cutting them off, of course) and have varying size small HSTs from the various projects. No waste.
    Hugs!

  9. How interesting!! I usually sew the cut-off triangle together (before cutting them off, of course) and have varying size small HSTs from the various projects. No waste.
    Hugs!

  16. I love this ruler and it’s one of the best things that were ever in the sew sampler box.
    One fabric saving tip from me: cut your yellow square 1/2″ bigger than the pattern says and cut in half diagonally. Use the ruler and cut of the corner from the blue block. Now sew your yellow triangle on and press. Your yellow piece will be a bit too big but you can easily trim it down and the waste will be minimal a lot less than the tiny yellow triangle you throw away.

  17. I love this ruler and it’s one of the best things that were ever in the sew sampler box.
    One fabric saving tip from me: cut your yellow square 1/2″ bigger than the pattern says and cut in half diagonally. Use the ruler and cut of the corner from the blue block. Now sew your yellow triangle on and press. Your yellow piece will be a bit too big but you can easily trim it down and the waste will be minimal a lot less than the tiny yellow triangle you throw away.

  18. I love this ruler and it’s one of the best things that were ever in the sew sampler box.
    One fabric saving tip from me: cut your yellow square 1/2″ bigger than the pattern says and cut in half diagonally. Use the ruler and cut of the corner from the blue block. Now sew your yellow triangle on and press. Your yellow piece will be a bit too big but you can easily trim it down and the waste will be minimal a lot less than the tiny yellow triangle you throw away.

  19. Thanks for the tutorial! This ruler looks simple enough that I may actually even USE it (instead of simply purchasing it and letting it sit and sit…)!

  20. Thanks for the tutorial! This ruler looks simple enough that I may actually even USE it (instead of simply purchasing it and letting it sit and sit…)!

  21. Thanks for the tutorial! This ruler looks simple enough that I may actually even USE it (instead of simply purchasing it and letting it sit and sit…)!

  22. I just purchased that very ruler, hoping that it will improve my accuracy sewing snowball blocks. Honestly, I try so hard to sew accurately, but no matter how carefully I drew and sewed those darn lines, I wasn’t satisified with the results. Now I can’t wait to use the ruler! Thanks for your timely tutorial!

  23. I just purchased that very ruler, hoping that it will improve my accuracy sewing snowball blocks. Honestly, I try so hard to sew accurately, but no matter how carefully I drew and sewed those darn lines, I wasn’t satisified with the results. Now I can’t wait to use the ruler! Thanks for your timely tutorial!

  24. I just purchased that very ruler, hoping that it will improve my accuracy sewing snowball blocks. Honestly, I try so hard to sew accurately, but no matter how carefully I drew and sewed those darn lines, I wasn’t satisified with the results. Now I can’t wait to use the ruler! Thanks for your timely tutorial!

  28. That’s an awesome ruler! I’ve never seen that one. Thank you for posting pics!!! I do a similar procedure but with HST’s cut with Accuquilt dies. They are not 100% perfect, but with practice they are super close. I only have the straight piece of the dog ears to line up on the edge of the fabric and I eyeball to make sure the two long sides of the triangle are parallel to the fabric square.

  29. That’s an awesome ruler! I’ve never seen that one. Thank you for posting pics!!! I do a similar procedure but with HST’s cut with Accuquilt dies. They are not 100% perfect, but with practice they are super close. I only have the straight piece of the dog ears to line up on the edge of the fabric and I eyeball to make sure the two long sides of the triangle are parallel to the fabric square.

  30. That’s an awesome ruler! I’ve never seen that one. Thank you for posting pics!!! I do a similar procedure but with HST’s cut with Accuquilt dies. They are not 100% perfect, but with practice they are super close. I only have the straight piece of the dog ears to line up on the edge of the fabric and I eyeball to make sure the two long sides of the triangle are parallel to the fabric square.