LyndaOH

Whoops - I didn't notice that. EQ won't include a piece it doesn't think is rotary cutable. I'm attaching the templates for the block (the second one I posted) so you can have that A piece.

be a quilter

Why 112?? Where does that number come from? Is it so much per inch?

TX GMimi

Hi! Several months ago I purchased a "Quilter's Scale - Easy Guide to Resizing" by Dritz, and it really helps.

If you have a printer and you can "increase/decrease" size on it, I think this would work.

It says if you have an 8" block and want to increase it to 9", enlarge it 113%.

No, I am not paid by Dritz to endorse this product, but I really like it!

This might be worth a try. Good luck!

laurilli

I'm with Crafterrn1 if you did it this way you wouldn't have to deal with 11/16 inch and the inner block would look like it is floating. IMHO. Good Luck.

Peckish

Division. Divide the size you want by the size you have.

9 ÷ 8 = 1.125, or 112. So you would push the enlarge button on the copier and set it to 112%.

To reduce a block is the same. If you have an 8 inch block but wanted a 9 inch block:
8 ÷ 9 = .88, you would push the reduce button on the copier and set it to 88%.

Or, you could use the cheat sheet found here (as long as your blocks are whole numbers):

http://www.thequiltedsnail.com/scale.html

be a quilter

Thank you!!!! That is very helpful. I have one question though. Usually when you divide and the answer is .5 and higher, you would round up to the next whole number. You didn't so your answer was 112 but I saw someone else said 113 (figuring she rounded up), which way gives you the most accurate size?

Peckish

I suppose you could always make one copy at 112 and another at 113, then lay each one on top of the other and hold it up to the light to see how accurate it is. At 1.125, the 5 represents thousands of an inch, so in my humble opinion, it won't make that big of a difference.

edit: I just asked my husband about this question. He works for a large photocopier manufacturer and therefore has extensive knowledge regarding copiers. He made 2 points: First, the difference between making a copy at 112% and 113% will be fractions of a millimeter. Second, photocopiers never make exactly 100% the same size anyway. He said you can make a copy at 100%, and it may turn out to be 100.5% of the original horizontally and 99.5% of the original vertically.

So, the short answer is it doesn't really matter if you round up that 5 or not.

be a quilter

Good to know! Thanks for checking it out!!

janjj

Not sure where I found this but here goes:
Ya start with whatcha want, and ya divide it by whatcha got.
So
begin with your goal-- it's the reason you have to deal with quilt math in the first place. What you want is a 10" block, so punch "10" into your calculator first. Hit the division key, then enter the number 'ya got," which is 12. Press the "=" key The number 0.83333333333 pops up.
The copy machine wants a percentage, so move that pesky decimal point to the right by two spots, and then you're done. Because this is a quilt, not a suspension bridge,you don't need all of the decimal points, so ignore them. You need to reduce the 12" patters to 83.3% to make a 10" block.
Now lets work it the other way and make it a little more complex. You have an applique pattern for a 6" x 7 l/2" heart, and you decide you'd like to make it at least 8" wide, but you're clueless how tall that will be. Ask yourself, what is it you want" An 8" wide block. what do you have"? A 6" wide block 8 divided by 6 = 1.3333. This is what I call the 'proportion number." Move the decimal point two places to the right and you've determined you need to enlage the heart pattern 133.3%. How tall will it be" in this case you multiply the original height (7 1/2") by the proportion number, which is 1.3333. so 7.5 x 1.3333 = 9.99975. the heart will be about 10" tall.

The proportion number will always be greater than 1.0000 if you are enlarging something and will always be less than 0.999 if you want to make something smaller.

When changing the sizes of blocks, always do the proportion calculations with the numbers for FINISHED sizes, not cut sizes. This is because you use different numbers to add seam allowances to a triangle (7/8" for half-square triangles or 1.25" for quarter-square triangles) than you add for the seam allowances of a square or rectangle (1/2"). Do all the proportion calculations for the finished pieces first, and then add the seam allowances.

Hope this is clear
Janice

Emma S

Wow! A lot of good information. I had no idea that you could use a simple percentage to increase to the desired size. Going to look for the Dritz Quilters Scale. Thanks everyone.